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COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



PHONETIC 
FRENCH GRAMMAR 



BY 



H. M. WELLS 

Head of Department of French and Spanish 
Taft School 



"PC 



Copyright, 1010 
By H. M. WELLS 



Jt/L 10 19/9 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 



©CU529151 









PREFACE 

In this book the French words are represented entirely 
in phonetic spelling. The book is, so far as I know, the only 
one of its kind published in this country. It therefore may 
need a few words of explanation. 

For many years I have made use of the various helps to 
the study of French pronunciation. The use of a phonetic 
notation early appealed to me as the only satisfactory way 
of dealing with the subject as long as the classes are fairly 
large and the time devoted is relatively short. The prin- 
ciple of economy, also, involved in offering the student one 
difficulty at a time seemed to me a sound one. Experience 
in beginning with the traditional spelling instead of the 
phonetic forms has only confirmed me in my faith in the 
latter method. 

Here let me say that the advocates of a phonetic tran- 
scription have never claimed that its use made any differ- 
ence in the physical act of pronouncing French sounds. 
The teaching of sound-production is an entirely separate 
matter, which could be done quite as well without any 
alphabet at all. If we could give every student a phono- 
graph with the correct record of the text to be studied, pos- 
sibly this would be even preferable to a phonetic alphabet. 
But this is obviously out of the question. Something is 
needed, however, that will enable the student in his home 
study to be sure that he is not practicing on a false remem- 
brance of the form. In a language as unphonetic in spelling 
as French this is of the greatest importance. Once the 
symbols are mastered, the student can prepare alone his 



IV PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

lesson in grammar, translation, and pronunciation with a 
fair degree of accuracy; whereas if no such help is afforded, 
the average memory is bewildered by the multiplicity of 
sound-representation. 

Students often make the remark, "I can read French, 
but I can't pronounce the stuff." They really believe that 
their organs of speech are somehow defective in regard to 
this particular language. Upon investigation I have usually 
found that this is not the case; they are perfectly capable 
of forming the sounds correctly if told how to go at it and 
given proper drill. Their real difficulty lies in not knowing 
what sounds are represented by the various French letters. 
Here is just where the phonetic alphabet steps in and allows 
no misconception on this point. Its motto is "one symbol 
for every sound and only one sound for each symbol." 

Grammars of this kind are common enough in England 
and on the continent, though most of them give the texts 
also in the traditional spelling, either in parallel columns 
with the phonetic version or as an appendix. As this book 
is intended merely for an introductory course, I have dis- 
carded the French spelling throughout, taking for granted 
that upon finishing this the student will pass on to a standard 
French grammar and texts. A reference table of phonetic 
equivalents of French letters is added as an introduction to 
such works. 

In the preparation of the book I have received help from 
numerous sources. Several chapters on syntax have been 
reproduced, by permission, from the Brief French Grammar 
by Dow, Skinner, and Langley. Other books to which I am 
greatly indebted are the works of Sweet, Passy, Jespersen, 
Grandgent, and Palmer. Indeed it was only after reading 
the latter's The Scientific Study and Teaching of Languages 
that I resolved to complete and print this grammar. 



PREFACE V 

The book is not offered to the public for indiscriminate 
use in schools. It has been written entirely with one class 
of students in mind, namely, boys of the Taft School over 
fifteen years of age, with some previous linguistic training 
and a reasonable certainty of pursuing the study of French 
in that school for at least two years. 

In answer to many inquiries I will take this opportunit} r 
to explain how the transition is made from phonetic spelling 
to texts in standard orthography. This work usually starts 
about the first of January in the beginning year of French. 
By this time the pupil has learned the essentials of forms 
and syntax and read from 75 to 100 pages of phonetic text, 
together with oral and written exercises. As an introduc- 
tion to ordinary French spelling the class is assigned portions 
of the " Table of Equivalents" to be learned and applied to 
transcribing a few lines of standard French each day. At 
first this ^practice is done entirely in class, only the formulas 
being required as outside work. In a very short time, how- 
ever, a few lines of such transcription are handed in at each 
recitation. 

Along with this work the forms of regular and of a few 
irregular verbs are learned, after which an easy French 
reader is begun, the teacher reading the text aloud while 
the students follow it closely in their books. After a few 
lessons they are sufficiently familiar with the new forms to 
begin a short grammar of the written language. From this 
point on, reading and grammar are pursued side by side. 

Standard French spelling is taught by means of exercises 
in transcription from phonetic texts of which the meaning 
is already known. Writing from dictation is also valuable 
if the student is required to make his own corrections. 

H. M. W. 



vi phonetic french grammar 

Books recommended for Reference 

Passy, Les Sons du Frangais. 

, Lectures Variees. 

Beyer and Passy, Elcmentarbuch des gesprochenen Franzosisch. 
Sweet. A Primer of Spoken English. 

, A Practical Study of Languages. 

Jespersen, How to Study a Foreign Language. 

, Kortfattet Engelsk-grammatik. 

Jespersen and Stigaard, Fransk Laesebog. 

Bonnard, Elementary Grammar of Colloquial French. 

Wilkins and Coleman, First Lessons in Spoken French. 

Wilkins and Nitze, Handbook of French Phonetics. 

Rousselot and Laclotte, Precis de Prononciation Frangaise. 

Grand gent, Short French Grammar. 

Palmer, Scientific Study and Teaching of Languages. 

Motte, Lectures Phonetiques. 

Michaelis and Passy, Dictionnaire Phonetique de la Langue Francaise. 

Dow, Skinner, and Langley, Brief French Grammar. 

Sweet, Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch. 

, Primer of Phonetics. 

Nyrop, Manuel du Frangais Parle. (Translated by Philipot.) 






TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Pronunciation 1-10 

The Apparatus of Speech 1 

Vowels 3 

Front Vowels 3 

Back Vowels 4 

Rounded Front Vowels 4 

Nasal Vowels 6 

Consonants 7 

Linking 8 

Assimilation "... 9 

Elision 10 

Grammar 11-69 

Articles and Nouns 11 

Definite Article 12 

Adjectives 13 

Adverbs 15 

Possessive Adjectives -. _-.... 16 

Demonstrative Adjectives 17 

Interrogative Adjective . . IS 

Numerals 18 

Personal Pronouns 20 

Some and Any 22 

Possessive Pronouns 24 

Demonstrative Pronouns 24 

Relative Pronouns 26 

Interrogative Pronouns 27 

Countries, Inhabitants, Languages 28 

Prepositions with Countries and Cities 29 

Verbs 29 

Formation of Tenses 30 

Examples of Regular Verbs 31 

Verbs Irregular in Principal Parts 32 

Irregular Present Subjunctives 33 

Verbs Irregular in Various Tenses 34 

Irregular Verbs of 1st Conjugation 36 

Compound Tenses 36 

Passive Voice 37 

vii 



Vlll TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Interrogation 38 

Negation 39 

Reflexive Conjugation ; 40 

Use of Tenses 41 

Some Important Verb Meanings 44 

Verb Idioms 4G 

Verbs governing Dative Case 49 

Verbs governing Genitive Case 49 

Infinitive 49 

Present Participle 53 

Subjunctive 55-61 

Subordinate Clauses 55 

Noun Clauses 55 

Adverbial Clauses 58 

Adjectival Clauses 61 

Principal Clauses 62 

Summary of Rules and Syntax 63-69 

Illustrative Sentences 70-89 

Special Vocabulary 90-96 

Days of Week, Months 90 

Human Body, House, Tableware and Meals 91 

Clothes, Colors, Time 92 

Adverbs 93 

Prepositions 95 

Texts (Phonetic) 97-110 

English-French Vocabulary 111-123 

Verbs Ill 

Nouns 115 

Adjectives 121 

Twenty Less Common Irregular Verbs 124 

Appendix 125-133 

Introduction to the Written Language 125 

Table of Vowel Spellings 128 

Table of Consonant Spellings 130 



ERRATA 

Page 124. akeriir and muvwair are irregular in 3d plural Present In- 
dicative and Present Subjunctive, as follows: 

akje:r moe:v 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



PRONUNCIATION 



The Apparatus of Speech 



1. The chief structures that affect our formation of 
speech-sounds are the larynx, the mouth, and the nose. 

2. The larynx is formed by the upper part of the wind- 
pipe. Its two sides come together in a protrusion commonly 




called the Adam's apple. Across the center of the kuynx 
are stretched two membranes called the vocal chords. 
When these are set vibrating by the breath we have a 
voiced sound. When the breath passes through without 
causing them to vibrate we have an unvoiced sound. 

3. In the mouth there are a number of organs that affect 
speech. The pharynx is the back part of the mouth, just 

1 



Z PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

above the larynx. Its wall is of importance in preventing 
the air from passing through the nose. The roof of the 
mouth consists of two parts: the front part is called the 
hard palate, and the back part is the soft palate. The hard 
palate is bounded in front and at the sides by the upper 
gums and teeth. The soft palate or velum is a flexible 
membrane. When raised to its highest point it shuts off 
the nasal cavity from the pharynx. The hanging tip of the 
soft palate is called the uvula. This is used chiefly in form- 
ing the Parisian R. 

The cheeks can be rounded or flattened in order to modify 
speech-sounds. 

The tongue is a flat, elongated muscle which is capable of 
a great variety of movements. It is commonly spoken of 
as divided into four parts: the back, the front, the blade, 
and the tip. 

In front of the teeth are the lips, which assume many dif- 
ferent positions in French. 

4. Directly above the pharynx is the nasal cavity. This 
is divided into two nasal passages, which terminate in the 
nostrils. The nasal passages may be closed or left open by 
raising or lowering the soft palate against the pharynx. 

The first point for the American student to grasp is that 
in order to pronounce French intelligibly he must fight 
against the slovenly habits of enunciation so common in 
English. In French we have to move forcibly and snappily 
the muscles of the cheeks, lips, jaws, and especially the 
tongue. At first this seems to cause embarrassment because 
of the novelty of the movements. 

The student's next care should be to avoid the so-called 
off-glide which ends most English vowel sounds. For in- 
stance, no is generally pronounced "nou." To prevent 
this glide it is necessary to hold the vocal organs firmly in 



PRONUNCIATION 6 

position until the pronunciation of the vowel is complete, 
and then relax them silently. 

Vowels 

A vowel is a sound made by the voice issuing through the 
mouth, or through the mouth and nose, with little or no 
friction. 

An oral vowel is one spoken through the mouth only. In 
its utterance the uvula is drawn back against the rear wall 
of the pharynx, thus shutting off the nasal passage. 

A nasal vowel is one pronounced simultaneously through 
the mouth and the nose. The uvula is lowered so that the 
breath may pass through both mouth and nose. 

A. Front Vowels 

Front vowels are those in the formation of which the 
tongue is in the front part of the mouth. 

The following are the front vowels in French : i, e, e, a. 

[i]. In the formation of this sound the front of the tongue 
rises towards the hard palate as high as possible without 
producing audible friction. The lips are drawn back as in 
smiling. Tip of tongue touches back of lower teeth. 

This sound resembles the vowel sound in English feet, 
but is more tense. 

[e]. The front of the tongue is not quite so near the hard 
palate as for [i], and the lips not drawn back quite so far. 
Tip of tongue a shade lower than for [i]. Mouth a little 
more open than for [i]. The sound resembles the vowel in 
English ate pronounced tensely and without glide. 

" [e]. The front of the tongue a little lower than for [e]. 
Tip a trifle lower than for [e]. Mouth a shade more open. 
The sound resembles the English vowel in net. 



4 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

[a]. Front of tongue lower than for [e]. Tip still touches 
lower teeth. Jaws a bit further apart. The sound lies be- 
tween the English vowel in pat and that in father, very 
near the Irish vowel in Pat. 

B. Back Vowels 

The following are the back vowels in French : a, o, o, u. 

[a]. In this sound the tongue is drawn down to its lowest 
point in the mouth. The tip rests against the bottom of the, 
lower gums. The sound resembles the English vowel in 
father. 

[,)]. The back of the tongue is somewhat higher than for 
[a], and the lips are more rounded. The sound lies midway 
between the English vowels in bun and lawn. 

[o]. The back of the tongue is higher than for [o]; the lips 
are tenser and more rounded. The sound is about like the 
English vowel in dote, but much tenser and without glide. 

[u]. The back of the tongue is as near the soft palate as 
possible without producing audible friction. The lips are 
protruded so as to form a round opening about a quarter of 
an inch in diameter. The sound is like the English vowel in 
boot without glide. 

C. Rounded Front Vowels 

[y]. To form this sound first pronounce [i]; then, still 
holding the tip of tongue against the teeth, slowly move the 
lips forward to the position for whistling. This sound has 
no equivalent in English. 

[0]. To form this sound first pronounce [e]; then, without 
moving the tip of tongue, protrude the lips and draw in the 
cheeks as if sucking a lemon. 



PRONUNCIATION 5 

[oe]. This sound has the tongue position of [e] and the lip- 
rounding of [o]. A fairly close resemblance to it is the 
English vowel in sir when the r is not sounded. 

[9]. This sound is practically the same as [oe]. It is, how- 
ever, very short and not so tense as [oe]. It is quite like the 
unstressed English article a as in a month ago, but with lip- 
rounding. 

The vowel [9] is very unstable, i.e., its use or omis- 
sion is largely dependent upon the letters and words that 
surround it. In spoken French it has disappeared in 
many cases where the written language and poetry still 
preserve it. 

1. When [a] is surrounded by only two consonants it is 
practically always dropped. 

Ex.: a$(a)te = £o buy; ap(a)le = £o call; 3(a)te = £o throw. 

2. When [a] is surrounded by more than two consonants 
it is generally pronounced. 

Ex.: librama=/reefo/; kelka $o:z = something. 

By some writers this is called the "Law of three con- 
sonants." It applies not only to [o] medial in a single word, 
but also to [a] final when preceded or followed by other 
words. Neglect of this law is the cause of a great number of 
mispronunciations on the part of foreigners. For instance, 
many who have learned that mute 9 is usually silent, pro- 
nounce kelkfwa for kelkafwa. The colloquial kekfwa is 
quite permissible; but if the 1 is sounded the 9 is retained. 
Compare the following pairs of phrases: 

de 30 d(a) kart But: yn duzein da kart 

de po d(a) bjeir de ve:r da bje:r 

de morso d(a) frDma:3 yn li:v da froma:3 



6 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

3. If, in a word or a group of words, several [a]'s stand in 
consecutive syllables, we usually pronounce the first, third, 
fifth, etc., dropping out the others. 

Ex.: 30 n(a) lo vo pu = 7 don't want it. 

il no m(o) lo d(p)ma:d pa = Z/e docs not ask me for it. 

D. Nasal Vowels 

By dropping the soft palate so that part of the breath 
passes up through the nose we get a nasal vowel. Remem- 
ber that a nasal vowel is not one that is made by the breath 
passing through the nose alone, but through both nose and 
mouth at the same time. A simple experiment recommended 
by Nyrop will test the quality of a nasal. Place a ruler (or 
something similar) over the upper lip between the nostrils 
and the mouth. Then place the mouth and nose in front of 
a clean glass and pronounce the desired nasal. If the vowel 
is correctly formed you will see breath on the glass above 
and below the ruler. 

The four nasal vowels in French are: 5, a, oe, e. These 
are simply the oral vowels o, a, oe, e transformed by allow- 
ing half of the air to escape through the nose. Students 
have great difficulty in distinguishing between a and 5. 
For 5 the mouth should be considerably more closed. 

A useful exercise for learning to pronounce a nasal vowel 
is to inhale strongly through nose and mouth before exhal- 
ing. This seems to lower the velum to just the right point. 

[5]. To form this sound pronounce English bone, then 
omit the b, and finally omit the n and nasalize the 0. 

[a]. To form this sound pronounce English lawn, then 
omit the I, and finally omit the n and nasalize the aw. 

[oe]. To form this sound pronounce English hunk, then 
omit the h, and finally omit the nk and nasalize the u. 



PRONUNCIATION / 

[e]. To form this sound pronounce English pan, then 
omit the p, and finally omit the n and nasalize the a. 

Consonants 

A consonant is a noise produced in the mouth, nose, or 
throat, accompanied or not by voice. Hence the two main 
divisions of consonants, voiced and unvoiced. 

A simple experiment to detect whether a consonant is 
voiced or not is to stop the ears while pronouncing it. If 
we feel a buzzing in the ears, the consonant is voiced. An- 
other test is to place thumb and forefinger on the Adam's 
apple during the utterance of the sound. It will be voiced 
if we feel a distinct vibration of the vocal chords. 

Following are the voiced and unvoiced consonants: 





Voiced 


Unvoiced 


z 

V 


1 


S 
f 


g 

d 


r 

? in English measure 
w 


k 

5 = s/z in English shave 
t 


f 


^ 


P 


m 


J 




n 







The sounds d, t, 1, n should not be pronounced as in English, 
where the tongue-tip is about at the junction of upper gums 
and hard palate. 

In French the point of the tongue touches the back of the 
lower front teeth and the blade approaches the front of the 
hard palate. 

[j]. This sound is formed by pressing the tip of the tongue 
against the lower teeth and at the same time pronouncing 
English y in yes. 



8 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

[ji]. This sound is usually described as equivalent to the 
ny in canyon. This is very inaccurate. The tip of the 
tongue in the English word is at the front of the hard palate 
whereas in French it is at the back of the lower front teeth, 
With this difference it resembles the sound above mentioned. 

[r]. Probably this is the most difficult French sound for 
an English-speaking student to acquire. The best way to 
acquire it seems to be to pronounce tadaitada a number of 
times, making the a as short as possible. The result should 
be an r formed by a single tap of the tongue against the 
teeth, thus traitra. 

[r]. Instead of the above dental r cultivated people of 
Paris and its surrounding territory use the one made by the 
vibration of the uvula against the tongue when the latter is 
drawn back — a sound very difficult for English-speaking 
people to acquire. 

[uj. This sound is practically the same as [y], but is sub- 
stituted for [y] before another vowel-sound. 

The other consonant sounds are the same as in English. 

Linking 

If we examine the cultivated speech of England or New 
England we find that r occurs only before a vowel following 
it without any pause, as in here I am (hir ai am); before a 
consonant or a pause it disappears leaving only the preceding 
vowel plus a, as I am here (ai am hia), they arrived here yes- 
terday ((5ei oraivd hia jestadei). 

In French a similar process has taken place with many 
consonants. Final consonants that were formerly pro- 
nounced are now silent before a consonant or a pause, but 
are sounded before a vowel immediately following. Hence 



PRONUNCIATION 9 

French words often have two forms, one before a consonant 
and one before a vowel. 

This linking does not, however, take place in all such 
cases. It is regulated by the formality of the style, the age 
of the speaker, and especially by the grammatical connec- 
tion of the words. The latter is fairly well governed by the 
following rules: 

Linking occurs: 

1. Between an article and a noun or an article and an 
adjective: lez om = the men, osn animal = an animal, lez otra 
garso = the other boys. 

2. Between an adjective and a noun: le graz animo = the 
big animals, man ami=my friend, 6.0 30Hz oia = two pretty 
children. 

3. Between a numeral and. a noun or a numeral and an 
adjective: trwaz a = three years. 

4. Between an adverb and an adjective or another ad- 
verb: trez emab\ = very kind, trop onet =too honest. 

5. Between the pronoun and the verb or another pro- 
noun: nuz a.vo = ive have, ilz atad = they are waiting, nuz i vwala 
=here we are, vuz an a.ve=you have some. 

6. Between the verb and its pronoun: repot-il = replies he, 
alez-i = gfo there. 

7. Between a preposition and its object: dfiz 63 moma=m 
a moment, aprez 0= after them. 

8. In many common phrases which have become practi- 
cally single words: mot a mo = word for word, da taz a ta = 
from time to time. 

Assimilation 

The sudden change in muscle-tension required in passing 
from a voiced to a voiceless sound or vice versa is often 
avoided by following a natural path of least resistance called 



10 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

assimilation. For example, in the rapid pronunciation of 
the English phrase sit down, voiceless t becomes voiced d 
resulting in the phonetic unit "sid down." Similarly, / 
have to becomes "I haf to," voiced v being influenced by a 
following voiceless t. 

In English the first consonant sometimes influences the 
second, sometimes the second affects the first. In French it 
is the second that influences the first; hence, opserve instead 
of obzerve. 

Complete assimilation between words occurs only when 
the group may be treated in meaning as practically one 
word, e.g., $amet fe:r ^railroad (from §ame da fe:r). 

English speakers have great difficulty in avoiding an as- 
similation between s and j resulting in $. These sounds 
must be carefully separated in French. 

Elision 

Closely related to assimilation is elision, that is, the 
omission of certain sounds in certain combinations. English 
examples of elision are shan't and won't. 

The most common elisions in French are. 

1. The omission of [a] before words beginning with a 
vowel. This occurs in la, da, 3a, ma, ta, sa, na, ka, preska, 
kelka, puiska, 3yska. 

2. Omission of a from la before a vowel. 

3. Dropping of [a] as explained under [a] on page 5. 

4. Dropping of 1 or r in endings bl, br, pi, pr before a 
word beginning with a consonant or at the end of a phrase. 

Ex. : la tab = la tabl. yn tab bla:$. 



GRAMMAR 

Articles and Nouns 

French nouns have only two genders: masculine and fem- 
inine. The gender of a noun is generally not evident from 
its form, but is shown by an article or an adjective. 

the = ld before a singular masculine noun beginning with a consonant. 
= la before a singular feminine noun beginning with a consonant. 
= 1 before a singular masculine or feminine noun beginning with a 

vowel. 
= le before a plural masculine or feminine noun beginning with a 

consonant. 
=lez before a plural masculine or feminine noun beginning with a 

vowel. 

The forms la and le, when used with the prepositions da 
or a, must be contracted as follows: 

d9+la = dy a+la = o 

da+le = de a+le = o 

The plurals de and o become dez and oz before a vowel. 
The other forms of the article do not combine. 

a or an =de before a masculine noun beginning with a consonant. 

=oen before a masculine noun beginning with a vowel. 

=yn before all feminines. 
some (plural of a) = de (see above) . 

Most nouns have only one form for the singular and 
plural. The plural is shown by some limiting word, as 
article or adjective. With the aid of da and a we may 
decline a French noun in nominative, genitive, and dative 
cases : 

11 



12 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Singular 



a ' f ta P e:r (^ e father) 


la me:r (the mother) 


Gen. dy pe:r (0/ £/te father) 


do la me:r (of the mother) 


Dat. pe:r (to the father) 


a la me:r (to the mother) 


Plural 




Nom. 1 , 
Ace. / lepK:r 


(me:r) 


Gen. de pe:r 


(me:r) 


Dat. pc:r 


(me:r) 



Nouns ending in al and aj change these to o in plural. 
Irregular are: 

sjel (sky) — sjo beef (ox) — bo 

ce:j (eye) — jo ocf (egg) — 

The Definite Article 

The must be used: 
(a) before any noun used to denote all of a class. 
(6) before an abstract noun. 

(c) before a proper noun modified by an adjective or a 

title. 

(d) before most geographical names, except cities and 

towns. 

(e) before the name of a language. 

(/) before the names of days, unless the notion of next 
or last is clear. 

(a) Iron is a useful metal = lo fe:r et 62 metal ytil. 
Cherries are red=\e s(o)riz so ru:3. 

(b) Education is necessary = 1 edykasjo e neseseir. 

(c) Little Peter is here = h p(o)ti pje:r et isi. 

General Foch is a Frenchman = b 3eneral f o§ e f rase. 

(d) France is beautiful = la f ra:s e bel. 

The Seine is a French river =la sen et 63 floev frase. 



GRAMMAR 13 

(e) He writes French very well=-i\ ekri fe frase tre bje. 

We are studying English = nuz etydjo 1 agle. 
(/) He comes on Tuesdays = il vje le mardi. 
But: He came (last) Tuesday = il 8 vany mardi. 

TTie is usually omitted before a noun in apposition with 
a preceding noun. 

Ex. : Paris, the capital of France = pari, kapital d9 la frciis. 

Adjectives 

In discussing adjectives we shall give the feminine first, 
since a much larger number of masculines can be deduced 
by rules from the feminine than vice versa. 

Adjectives ending in a vowel or bl or br have only one 
form for both genders. 

Ex.: 30H (pretty) kry (raw) febl (weak) 

ble (blue) ny (hare) libr (free) 

Adjectives ending in k, 1, or r remain unchanged in mascu- 
line, except that final er of polysyllables becomes e. 
Those ending in v change v to f in masculine. 

Ex. : pyblik (public) §e:r (dear) 

kryel (cruel) 
But: Ie38r>le3e (light) 

Those ending in any other consonant simply drop it in 
the masculine. 

Ex.: patit (small) >pati vert (green) >vc:r 

bla:S (white) >bla 

As a result of dropping this final consonant, slight modi- 
fications of the last vowel often occur: 

1. A long vowel becomes short: 

Ex.: mov8:z>mDV8 (bad.) 



14 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

2. A short vowel before r becomes long: 

Ex.: vert>ve:r fort>fo:r (strong) 

3. An open vowel becomes closed: 

Ex.: sot > so (stupid) promje:r>promje (first) 

4. Loss of final n or ji nasalizes a preceding vowel: 

an>u (roman>roma) 
in ~\ r (fin > fe) 



iji \ >e j (malip. > male) 

en J I (5sjen>asje) 

on>5 (bon>bo), yn>ce (bryn>brce) 

Irregular are: 

bel — bo fol — f u 

nuvel — nuvo set — sa 

vje:j — vjo se$ — sek 

mol — mu flato:z — flatoeir 

A. Adjectives (linking) 

In linking an adjective to a- noun the feminine form is 
generally used for both genders: 

Ex.: oe ptit ufa = a little child. 
la nuvel a - the new year. 

In this process the vowel of the final syllable becomes 

short : 

Ex.: oe movez om = a bad man. 
mo vjej ami = my old friend. 

In linking, s>z, d>t, g>k: 

Ex.: de groz urs = a big bear. 

oe grat animal = a large animal. 
oe lok ive:r = a long winter. 

Irregular linking forms are : 

fre:§ — fre — frez (fresh) fra:§ — fra — frak (frank) 
seS — sek — sek (dry) vje:j — vjo — { yjeW ^ old ^ 



GRAMMAR 15 

B. Plural of Adjectives 

Adjectives form their plurals like nouns with similar end- 
ings. 

C. Comparison of Adjectives 

The comparative is formed regularly by prefixing ply 
(more) to the positive. 

Ex.: il e ply gra k3 mwa, = he is taller than I. 

Irregular are: 

bo (good) mejce:r 

moveiz (bad) pi:r 

potit (small) mweidr 

The superlative is formed by prefixing to the comparative : 

(a) The definite article. 

Ex.: la ply be! flce:r = the prettiest flower. 

(b) A possessive adjective. 

Ex.: mo mejceir ami = ra?/ best friend. 

(c) A demonstrative adjective. 

Ex.: so ply 3cen §(o)val = £/ws youngest horse. 

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun 
which they modify or refer to. 

Most adjectives follow their nouns, especially those de- 
noting nationality, color, or shape. Those that precede 
should be learned individually. 

Adverbs 

Adverbs are quite commonly made from adjectives by 
adding the syllable ma: (a) to the masculine if it ends in a 
vowel sound; (6) otherwise, to the feminine. 



16 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Adverbs are compared like adjectives. Irregular are: 

bje (well) mjo lo mjo 

mal {badly) pi la pi 

boku (much) ply b ply 

p0 (little) mwe b mwe 

Position. Adverbs regularly follow the verb they modify, 
and in compound forms they regularly follow the auxiliary. 
For emphasis, they sometimes stand before the subject or 
after the past participle. They cannot, however, stand 
between the subject and verb, as often in English. 
Ex.: He often comes = il vje suvu. 
Often he comes = suva il vje. 

He has often spoken of that = il a suva parlc do sla; more em- 
phatically, il a parle do sla suva. 

The following adverbs of time and place never stand be- 
tween the auxiliary and the past participle: 

yesterday = je:r late = t&ir 

to-day = 03urdqi here = isi 

to-morrow = dome there = la 
formerly = otrof wa 

Possessive Adjectives 



Singula! 




Plural 




m. 


/• 


m. and f. 




mo 


ma 


me 


(my) 


to 


ta 


te- 


(thy) 


SO 


sa 


SC 


(his, her, 


notr 




no 


(our) 


votr 




vo 


(your) 


lceir 




lceir 


(their) 



Before a vowel the masculine singular is used instead of 
the feminine singular, and adds n for linking. 

All the plural forms add z before a noun beginning with a 
vowel. 



GRAMMAR 17 

No definite article is used with a superlative after these 
adjectives. 

The greatest difficulty these words offer to English-speak- 
ing students is the necessity of making them agree with the 
thing possessed, and not with the possessor. Thus : his book 
= so livr, but his mother = sa meir. 

When a noun denoting a part of the body is the object of 
a verb we generally use the definite article instead of the 
possessive adjective, and place before the verb a dative pro- 
noun referring to the person affected. 

Ex.: 39 lip e kase la bra = 7 broke his arm. 

il s e kase la bra = he broke his (own) arm. 

After perdr (to lose) no pronoun is needed. 
Ex. : il a perdy la 3&:b = he lost his leg. 

Demonstrative Adjectives 

Singular Plural 

m. f. m. and f. 

sa 1 / (this — these) 

set / I (that — those) 

The masculine form set is used only before nouns begin- 
ning with a vowel. 

The plural form se adds z before nouns beginning with 
a vowel. 

To emphasize this, or to distinguish it from that we add si 
to the noun. For that add la. 

Ex.: set ply m-si = this pen. 
set plym-la = that pen. 

One of the commonest pitfalls for those who are weak in 
English grammar is the confusion of adjective and pronoun 
uses of demonstratives. Be careful not to use the above 
forms without a noun. 



18 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Interrogative Adjective 

kel? = what or which? 

z is added to kel before a plural noun beginning with a vowel. 
The trouble above referred to in distinguishing adjective 
from pronoun uses arises also in the use of what and which. 
Ex.: kel li:vr vule-vu? = what book do you wish? 

Numerals 

A. Cardinals 
Strong forms 

1 de(n) 22 vet-d0(z) 

2 do(z) 23 vet-trwa(z) 

3 trwa(z) 24 vet-katr 

4 katr 25 vet-sek 

5 se:k 30 trait 

6 sis 31 tra:t e oe 

7 set 40 kara:t 

8 qit 50 sekait 

9 noef 60 swasait 

10 dis 70 swasat-dis 

11 5:z 71 swasat e 5:z 

12 du:z 80 katr9-ve 

13 treiz 81 katro-ve-ce 

14 katorz 90 katro-ve-dis 

15 ke:z 91 katro-ve-oiz 

16 se:z 100 sa 

17 dis-set 101 sa de 
15 diz-ujt 200 de sa 
15 diz-ncef 201 de sa de 
20 ve:t 1000 mil 

#1 vet e de 1001 mil ce 

Weak forms 

(a) (6) (a) (6) 

se se:k qi qit 

si si:z ne noef 

se set di di:z 



GRAMMAR 19 

The strong forms (with the exception of 5 through 10) are 

used either with or without a noun. Linking consonants are 

in ( ). 

Ex.: i j an a ncef = there are nine. 

Of the weak forms those in column (a) are used when 
followed by a noun beginning with a consonant; those 
in column (b) are used before a noun beginning with a 

vowel. 

Ex.: il a se \i:vr = he has 5 books. 
il a diz ami = he has 10 friends. 

No linking or elision occurs before numerals: 

Ex.: b 5:z ^av]e = the 11th of January. 
le qi mejceir \iivr = the 8 best books. 

noef>nce:v before I 1 

{ oe:r = hours. 

Ex. : il a noev a = he is 9 years old. • 
il e noev ce:r=^ is 9 o'clock. 

Cardinals are used instead of ordinals: 

1. With names of sovereigns, etc. (except first) : 

Ex. : lwi treiz = Louis XIII. 

2. In giving dates (except first) : 

Ex.: h se:z nova:br = the 16th of November. 

3. Also for pages and chapters: 

Ex.: uvre vo liivr, pa:3 du:z = open your books, page 12. 

Than before a numeral is da : 

Ex.: il a ply da ke:z h:vr = he has more than 15 books. 



20 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

B. Ordinals 

Masculine Feminine 

1st pramje pramje: r 

2d { d0z i em 

3d trwaizjem 

4th katriem 

5th seikjem 

6th siizjem 

7 th set j em 

8th uitjem 

9th noevjem 

10th diizjem 

With the exception of pramje, S9g5, the ordinals are 
formed by adding jem to the linking form of the cardinals. 

Personal Pronouns 

There are in French two classes of personal pronouns: 
conjunctive and disjunctive. Conjunctives are used only as 
the subject, or direct or indirect object of an expressed verb. 
Disjunctives are used in all other cases. 

A. Conjunctives 



Nom. 


Ace. 


Dat. 




Nom. 


Ace. 


Dat. 


33 


ma 


ma 


= 


I 


me 


to me 


ty 


to 


to 


= 


thou 


thee 


to thee 


il 


la 


hp 


= 


he (it) 


him (it) 


to him 


el 


la 


lip 


= 


she (it) 


her (it) 


to her 


nu 


nu 


nu 


= 


we 


us 


to us 


vu 


vu 


vu 


= 


you 


you 


to you 


il 


le 


lce:r 


= 


they 


them 


to them 


el 


le 


lce:r 


= 


they (f.) 


them 


to them 



1. Before a word beginning with a vowel 39, ma, t9, 19, la 
become 3, m, t,.l, 1; nu, vu, le>nuz, vuz, lez. The plural 
il>iz. The plural el>elz. 



GRAMMAR 21 

2. Before a word beginning with a consonant both singu- 
lar and plural il are shortened to i. 

3. The above pronouns immediately precede the verb that 
governs them unless such verb is affirmative imperative; in 
the latter case they follow it and are joined to it by a hyphen. 

4. ma and ta>mwa and twa after an imperative. The 
other pronouns do not change. 

5. If there are two object pronouns of different persons, 
the third person stands next to the verb (whether the pro- 
nouns precede or follow the verb). 

6. If both are third person, the direct precedes the indirect. 

Ex.: il ma h don. nu b loeir dono. done-le mwa. 

7. When the direct object pronoun is ma, ta, sa, nu, or 
vu, any indirect object =a+a disjunctive following the verb. 

Ex. : il ma prezait a el = he presents me to her. 

8. For reflexive pronouns, first and second persons, we use 
these persons of the conjunctives. 

There is a special reflexive form sa for the third person 
(singular and plural). This becomes s before a vowel. 

9. The indirect object referring to things, to it and to 
them=i. 

The genitive of it and of them = a. 

Both i and a have the position of conjunctive object pro- 
nouns, a follows all others. 

10. A reflexive pronoun precedes all others. 



B. 


Disjunctives 


Singular 




Plural 


1. mwa 




1. nu 


2. twa 




2. vu 


3. m. Iqi 




3. m. 


3. /. el 




3. /. el 



22 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Uses: 1. After prepositions. 

2. As predicate after e:tr. 

3. With conjunctive for emphasis. 

4. When subject or object is compound. 

5. Whenever the pronoun is not connected to a verb. 

6. When the subject is separated from verb by any 

word but na or a conjunctive pronoun. 

7. With me:m to form intensives. 

Ex.: 1. avek mwa, = with me. 

2. se \\ii = it's he. 

3. mwa 3a na 1 em pa = I don't like it. 

4. 1m* e mwa, nuz ira = /ie and I shall go. 

5. ki a parle? mwa = who spoke? I. 

6. lqi seel p0 la fe:r = /ie alone can do it. 

7. 3a 1 e vy mwa-me:m = / saw it myself. 

(a) The disjunctive pronouns are so exclusively restricted 
to persons (or intelligent animals) that prepositional relations 
with pronouns referring to things have to be expressed in 
various other ways, for example, by the use of the following 
common adverbs of place: 

dada=w it, in there dasu =under it, under there 

dear = outside of it, of there dava = in front of it 

dasy = on or upon it, on there derje:r= behind it 

Some and Any 

(a) When some or any is either expressed or understood 
before a noun it is translated by da + the definite article. 

Ex.: dane-mwa dy pe = give me (some) bread. 

dane-mwa d la vja:d = give me (some) meat. 
ave-vu de ipoml = have you (any) apples? 

(b) But in the following cases da without the article is used: 
1. When an adjective precedes the noun: 

Ex. : il ma dan da ba pe = /ie gives me good bread. 



GRAMMAR 23 

2. When the noun is the direct object of a negative verb : 

Ex. : il iia ma don pa da pe = he doesn't give me any bread. 

3. After all expressions of quantity: 

Ex.: il a ase da \i\Yr = he has enough books. 

il a yn li:vr da sykr = /ie has a pound of sugar. 

Note. After the preposition da no partitive is used. 
Ex.: il a bazwe da liivr = he needs books. 

(c) With na . . . ka, meaning only, the partitive in full is 

used: 

Ex.: il n a ka de p\ym. = he has only pens. 

(d) The full partitive is also used with akoir, bje, and la 
plypar: 

Ex.: done-mwa akoir da la swp = give me some more soup. 
il a bje de \\\YY = he has many books. 
la plypar de ^a = most people. 

Note carefully that in all the above cases some and any 
are used as adjectives. 

(e) When some and any are pronouns they = a, which follows 
all rules for the position of conjunctive objective pronouns. 
a follows all other object pronouns. Since a is not a true 
direct object a following past participle does not agree with it. 

Ex.: il n j an a pa = there isn't any. 

vu lip an ave done = you gave him some. 
done lqi a = give him some. 

(/) a must be used to represent of it or of them whenever a 
noun or adverb of quantity, or a numeral, is used without its 
noun complement. 

Ex.: kobje an ave-vu? = how many have you? 
3 an e trwa = / have three. 
il an a yn duzen = /ie has a dozen. 



24 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



Possessive Pronouns 



Singular 





m. 


/. 


mine: 


la mje 


la mjen 


thine: 


la tje 


la tjen 


his, hers, its: 


la sje 


la sjen 


ours: 


lo no:tr 


la no:tr 


yours: 


lo voitr 


la vo:tr 


theirs: 


la lce:r 


la loc:r 



Plural 

m. andf. 

le mje le mjen 

le tje le tjen 

le sje le sjen 

le noitr 
le vo:tr 
le lccir 



(a) The chief difficulty for the English-speaking student in 
the use of these pronouns is the necessity of making them 
agree with the thing possessed and not with the possessor. 

Ex.: sa li:vr e mejceir ka la s']e = this book is better than hers (or his), 
ma me:r e la sjen = my mother and his (or hers). 

(b) Possession after the verb to be is generally denoted by 
a+a disjunctive pronoun: 

Ex.: sa li:vr et a mwa = to book is mine. 

Demonstrative Pronouns 

Demonstrative pronouns are either: 

(a) definite and variable, referring -to a particular noun, 
whether mentioned or distinctly implied, and agreeing with 
it in gender and number. 

(6) indefinite and invariable, designating something not 
yet named or referring in a general way to what has been 
said or is to be said. 



A. Definite Demonstrative Pronouns 

Unemphatic. The unemphatic definite pronouns the one, 
the ones, referring to a particular noun with which they 
agree in gender and number, are: 



GRAMMAR 25 

Singular Plural 

m. salqi m. S0 

/. sel /. sel 

They need, to complete the sense: (a) da+a noun; (6) a 
restricting relative clause. 

Ex.: (a) Do 2/ow -prefer my house or my brother's? = prefere-vu ma 
mezo u sel do mo freir? 
(6) / saw his house and the ones he sold = 3 evysa mezo e sel k il 
a vady. 

Note. He who^solxiiki he whom = solqi ko 

She who = sel ki s/ie whom = sel ko 

S0 ki ., - , ( S0 ko 



They who= < , , . they whom= I 



sel ko 



Emphatic. The emphatic definite pronouns this, that, this 
one, that one, these, those are formed by appending to salui, 
etc., the suffixes si and la respectively. They are used for 
emphasis or to distinguish what is near from what is remote. 

Ex.: Here are some pencils. Do you want these or those? = vwasi de 
krejo. dezire-vu s0-si u s0-la? 
/ have two pens. Do you prefer this one or that one? = 3 e d0 
plym. prefere-vu sel-si u sel-la? 

B. Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns 

Unemphatic. 1. Unemphatic this or that as subject of the 
verb to be, with the stress upon the predicate complement, 
is the invariable so, referring to what has been said or to 
what is to be said. 

Ex.: He is rich, that's certain = il e ri§, s e serte. 

That's my brother knocking = s e mo fre:r ki frap. 
Those are Germans = so so dez alma. 

2. This is, these are; that is, those are+& noun, possessive 
pronoun, or demonstrative pronoun =vwasi, vwala when used 
in introducing or pointing out persons or things. 



26 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Ex.: This is my cousin = vwasi ma kuze. 
These are my friends = vwasi mez ami. 

Emphatic. Emphatic this and that equals respectively 
sasi and s(a)la. They are used: 

1. To designate something not yet named, sasi distin- 
guishes what is nearer the speaker, sala what is more remote. 

Ex.: This is mine, that is yours = sosi et a mwa, s(o)la et a vu. 
Don't do that = no fet pa s(o)la. 

2. To refer, s(a)la to what has been said, sasi to what is 
going to be said. 

Ex.: That is impossible = s(o)la et eposibl. 

You have heard that, now listen to this = vuz ave fitady sla, 
metna ekute sasi. 

s e+ki or ka often serves to emphasize. 

Ex.: That's why I came = s e pur sla ko 30 sqi vony. 

Relative Pronouns 

Persons Things 

who or that =ki [subject of a verb] which or that=ki 

whom or that=ko [object of a verb] which or that = kd 

whom =ki [object of a preposition] which = fokel (m.) 

lakel (/•) 
lekel (pi) 

(a) Whose, of whom, and of which are all translated by do. 
do stands at the beginning of its clause and requires the 
article before its noun. 

(6) When the noun modified by whose is the subject of its 
verb it follows do immediately; if it is object of the verb it 
follows the latter. 

Ex. : He is the man whose brother sings so well = s e 1 om do lo freir $a:t 
si bje. 
He is the man whose dog I killed = s e 1 om do 3 e tqe b $je. 



GRAMMAR 27 

(c) When the noun modified by whose is the object of a 
preposition we use da + lakel or da ki instead of do. 

Ex.: He is the man whose son I traveled with = s e 1 om avek la fis 
dykel (or da ki) 3 e vwaja3e. 

(d) The English relative pronoun what must always be 
turned into that which for translation into French. Each 
part may then be either nominative or accusative. When 
the which is: 

Subject of a verb, what = SB ki. 
Object of a verb, what = sd ka. 
Object of a preposition, what = sz . . . kwa (da kwa = do). 

Ex.: What is not clear is not French = sa ki n e pa kle:r n e pa frase. 
What you say is true = sz ka vu dit e vre. 
That's what I was talking o/=ywala sa da 3a parle. 

Interrogative Pronouns 

Persons Things 

who=ki; ki e-s ki [subject of a verb] what=k e-s ki 

whom =ki; ki e-s ka [object of a verb] what=k.z; k e-s ka 

whom =ki [object of a preposition] what = kwa 

which (one)=m. lakel;/. lakel; pi. lekel, for either persons or things. 

(a) ki, ka, kwa, and lakel are used in either direct or indi- 
rect questions. The others are used only in direct questions. 

(b) In direct questions what ^s+noun or pronoun =k e-s ka. 
In indirect questions what is+noun or pronoun = sa ka s e ka. 

Ex.: Who is that manf = kl e set om-la? 

What hurt youf = k e-s ki vuz a fe mal? 
Whom did you see? =ki ave-vu vy? 
Of whom were you speaking? = da ki parlje-vu? 
What did you say?=k ave-vu di? 

What did you write this with? = avek kwa ave-vuz ekri sasi? 
What is electricity? =k e-s ka 1 elektrisite? 

I don't know what philosophy is = 33 na se pa sa ka s e ka la fila- 
zofi. 



28 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



(c) Whose? in both direct and indirect discourse is generally 
rendered by a ki? In French the thing possessed, whether 
noun or pronoun, always comes after the verb. 

Ex.: Whose book is that? = Whose is that book? = a ki e sa li:vr? 



Whose book is that? = Whose 

Whose is it? = 2, ki e-s? 

Tell me whose that is = Tell me whose is that ■■ 



dit-mwa a ki e sla. 



In such sentences as Whose book have you? Whose horse did 
you give the hay to? when in English the noun modified by 
whose is the object of a verb or preposition, the French order 
is as though the English read Whose is the book that you have? 
=a ki e la liivr ka vuz ave? Whose is the horse that you gave 
the hay to? =a. ki e la $val okel vuz ave done la fwe?, namely, 
(1) a ki, (2) eitr, (3) noun, (4) relative clause. 

Ex.: Tell me whose book this is = dit-mwa a ki e sa li:vr. 
Whose pencil is this? = a ki e sa krejo? 

Whose hat did you take? or Whose is the hat you took? = a ki e la 
§apo ka vuz ave pri? 

(d) Whose? in expressing relationship is da ki? followed by 
the same order as a ki? 

Ex.: Whose son have you adopted? = da ki ave- vuz adopte la fis? 



Countries, Inhabitants, Languages 



Country 

1 amerik 
1 amerik dy nor 
1 amerik dy syd 
lo kanada 
lez etaz-yni 
lo meksik 
1 agloteir 
la frais 
1 almaji 



Inhabitants 

amerike 



meksike 
agle 
frase 
alma 



Language 



kanadje lo kanadje 



la meksike 
1 agle 
lo frase 
1 almd 



America 
North America 
South America 
Canada 
United States 
Mexico 
England 
France 
Germany 



GRAMMAR 



29 



Country 

la sqis 
1 itali 
1 espaji 
la bel3ik 
la olaid 
la rysi 
la 3ap5 
1 cerop 



Inhabitants 

sqis 

italje 

espajiol 

bel3 

olade 

rys 

5apone 

ceropee 



Language 



1 italje 
1 espapol 



la olade 
la rys 
la 3apone 



Switzerland 

Italy 

Spain 

Belgium 

Holland 

Russia 

Japan 

Europe 



Prepositions with Countries 

1. In general, before feminine singular countries to or in 
=a;/rora = da, and the article is omitted. 

Ex.: He is going to France = 'A va a fra:s. 
He comes from France = il vje da fra:s. 

2. In general, before masculine and plural countries to or 
m = a;/rom=da, and the article is retained (in contraction). 

Ex.: He is going to the United States =il va oz etaz-yni. 
He is in Canada = il et o kanada. 
He comes from the United States = il vje dez etaz-yni. 
He has come back fromMexico=il e ravany dy meksik. 

Prepositions with Cities 

Before all cities, at, to, or m=a, from=dd. 
Ex.: He is in Paris = il et a pari. 

He comes from London = il vje da lo:dr. 

Verbs 

All regular verbs and the majority of irregular ones may 
be constructed by the following system of formation of 
tenses. 



30 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

A. Formation of Tenses 





Endings 


Pres. Indie. Sing. 
Plural 


Drop from Infin. e, r, dr, and add 1. — 

2. — 

3. — 
Drop from Pres. Part, a, and add 1. o 

2. e 

3. — 


Pres. Subj. Sing. 
Plural 


Drop from Pres. Part a, and add 1. — 

2. — 

3. — 
Drop from Pres. Part, a, and add 1. jo 

2. je 

3. — 


Imperfect Indie. 


Drop from Pres. Part, a, and add 1. e 

2. c 

3. e 

1. J3 

2. je 

3. c 


Future 


Drop from Infin. e, r, r, and add 1. re 

2. ra 

3. ra 

1. ro 

2. re 

3. ro 


Conditional 


Drop from Infin. e, r, r, and add 1. re 

2. re 

3. re 

1. rjo 1 

2. rje 1 

3. re 1 



These endings become ©rjo, arje, and re in 1st conjugation. 



GRAMMAR 



31 



I 8 s 



00 

5- 
OS 



5-, 



£ s .g *e 

v O H U 

s *o « ft 



8 

&3 



pq 



* 8 - 

^ .2 5 



Eh a 










CO w CO .'2,.^, CO 


CO CO CO .'2=.24 CO 


CO CO CO .'2..^ CO 


« 2 


Pi 

o 


OQ 

*s 

cd 


-a 

CO 










J 








«j 








£ 


«« CD 






O 




lO CD 


lO CD , 


H 


co co co if'S--! 1 CO 


CO CO CO ..-*.—= CO 


CO CO CO • •-,.;-, CO 


S h fn a cd s-< 


(h ■- ~ L* L* l-< 


S-c Jh ?h Ph f-l Sh 


S 


d 
o 


'3 


T3 

!-H 





<d 


CO 

ft 


w 








Eh > 


CD~ 














« a 


^- 3 cp 






H Q 


CD 






Ph £ 










to 






H 










d 


O CD 


tO CD 


Q 


'3 "2 


CO CO 


^5 


sfl yc 


ft ft 








B 










«o cd 


O CD 


IO CD 


W " 








03 fc 


CI 


cc 


*% 


« £ 


Q 


'2 


CO 


D-i P" 


T3 


cd 


ft 


OQ 










CD Cd cd lO 0IO 


CD o3 cd o CD <a> 


0J e3 o3 io <u o 


a 


{-, ?H Sh h Fh ^ 


£ JL, !h >h h h 


Sh Ph >h h h !h 




CI 


'2 


73 


H 


73 


ca 


CO 








ft 


HINOO rH CN CO 


rH CN CO r-i (N CO 


--H CN CO T-i CNCO 





o 




J 








W3 




ad 


— 


CD 




s 


bfi cd 


CI 




w 


CD 

-d 


c 


+J 








a j 






ad 


ad 


T3 

CD 

£ 


"5 

d 


Ph 




O 


ft 








TJ 


fH 


(N 


- 


— 


CD 


d 


w 


ad 








> 


~ 



T^ 


r. 


ft 


1-1 


Tl 


in 


C 


C5J 


ad 


S 


CD 


d 






d 


IB 




"3 

IN 


— 


CD 


d 


> 
■P 


o 


=d 


ft 

s 


CD 


c 


fjj 



32 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



C. Verbs Irregular in Principal Parts only 



Infinitive 


Present 
Participle 


Past 
Participle 


Present Indicative 




1. kodqi:r 


kodqizci 


k5dui(t) 


30 kodui 


to lead 


2. kone:tr 


konesa 


kony 


30 kone 


to know 


3. kreidr 


krejia 


kre(t) 


30 kre 


to fear 


4. dormiir 


dorma 


dormi 


39 dor 


to sleep 


partiir 








to leave 


satiir 








to feel 


servi:r 








to serve 


sorti:r 








to go out 


5. kuvriir 


kuvra 


kuver(t) 


30 kuvr 


to cover 


ofrhr 








to offer 


uvri:r 








to open 


sufrhr 








to suffer 


6. batr 


bata 


baty 


30 ba 


to beat 


7. krwair 


lcrwaja 


kry 


30 krwa 


to believe 


8. ekriir 


ekrivu 


ekri(t) 


3 ekri 


to write 


9. li:r 


liza 


ly 


30 li 


to read 


10. metr 


meta 


mi(z) 


30 me 


to put 


11. ne:tr 


nesa 


ne 


30 ne 


to be born 


12. ri:r 


ria 


ri 


30 ri 


to laugh 


13. sqiivr 


sqiva 


sqivi 


30 sqi 


to follow 


14. ve:kr 


veka 


veky 


30 ve 


to conquer 


15. vi:vr 


viva 


veky 


30 vi 


to live 


16. kuri:r 


kura 


kury 


30 kur 


to run 


Fut. kurre 










17. di:r 


diza 


di(t) 


30 di 
2d pi. vu dit 


to say 


18. vwa:r 


vwajci 


vy 


30 wva 


to see 


Fut. vere 











1. Similarly all verbs in qir. 

2. Similarly all verbs in e:tr and watr except ne:tr. 

3. Similarly all verbs in e:dr. 

Verbs in sections 4 and 18 drop final consonant of stem in Present 
Indicative singular. 



GRAMMAR 



33 



o cd 



o a> ;« .S4 



•> *> h .'2, .2, 

• f>^ tL o3 co cc 
S ? 8 ££ £ 42 £ 



3 3 
d > 



3 d 
d > 



d > 



I s 

> rd 






a a 

» » d 

d d a 

d > rd 



d d 

CD » 

2d 

d > rd 



03 «^» 

02 03 



.„ | & > 

i ¥ J J i j j 

-*j rd to +j d to - 



8 8 53 






to +s rd 



& C ^ 

a e 3 

& a a 






>o a; 

N N W 



'c?'c? 

02 02 

d d 

d > 



"3 13 



JO CD . 

:7 o et> F 
"d 



d d 
d > sa 



IT 5! 
3 2 



O O 



O CD 

ft ft cr 



o3 o3 T? 

> > o3 

- m > 



d > 



CO 



o3 o3 _, 
* * £ 

02 02 S 2 



o3 o3 

'a * s ^ ^ 



> 

to ^> rd 



si 



CO CO 

'Er'S* 



to 4^ rd to +a 



- c3 o3 Ej 
ft ► > > 



ft ft 



34 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



to 
3 

o 



>0 <D 
> > 

03 a 



a o3 

£ £ £ ,o o> . 'g £ 



fl > !fl C > rs 



> r^ 



3 3 £ 03 03 ^_ 

- - a - ^ > 



^i=i>^c>^ci> 







® s> _ o o _ 
aao > > o 

11-^:3 to -u .T3 



H 






c3 






Is 


u 




> 


-n 




o3 


CO 


o3 


i— i 


<N 


CO 



GRAMMAR 35 









^ 






































2 






00 

to 




























-§ 






















l<2 

,co 






to 






to 
g 




•<s> 
















CO 










s 






^ 






© 










S 






e 




CD 












































• 1 






03 













o 






8 

»co 




CP 












ft 




"x° 

a 






F > CD 

-Si s 

Z! ZT ^ 






J-l 

73 






a 






















o 










CD 






CD 






CD 




CD 






CD 






CD 




to 












to 






to 






to 




to 






to 






to 




o 


cd 






















































































OJ 


cu 










































m 


CO 
















in 


























o3 

a 


S3 

> 


CO 
■•/- 

03 


> 

o3 

CO 


> 

CO 


£ 


o 

> 


> 


^ a 

8 a a 


8 

a 


a 


a 

CD 
> 


O CD 
■ III 




IO 

N 

CD 


CO 


(CD 


o 

a 


CP 

a 
ft^ 


3 


=3 


CO 


a 


3 


X 


=5 


s 


> 


a 


3 


a 


a 


> a 


? 


-Q 


a 


p 


a 


a ft 


PI 


> 


~ 


Pi 


> 


ra 


a 


> 


ra 


Pi 


P> 


^ 


a 


> 


ra a 


~ 


a 


> 


^ 


Pi 


> ra 


CD 












































"5? 


CD 
x" 

OS 
+= 


• 

co 


s cd 

z! zr * 


0) 

-X' 


X 


> 


> 


o 
> 




8 

a 


8 

a 


(CO 


ICO 

> 


o3 o3 


c3 


CO 


CO 


CO 


1C3 

ft 


•Bid 

+3 . rt 


Po 


+3 


& 


CD 
to 


+2 


CD 

to 


£ 


CD 
to 




ra to 


^ 

+= 


CD 
to 


>> 


r^ 


CD 

to 
































































+= 


























N 












> 












>> 










, — s 






N 




"eq 

e3 






<M ft B0 










o 

a 






a 

£ 




>, 

J3 






"co 






"5h 

ft 




'Co" 
CO 

c 






»3 

1 « »a 






IB 






id 

a 






Id 

a 

CD 




!> 






SJ 

CD 






15 
Pi 
CD 

in 




m 






1 ft co 






> 










> 




rO 










ft 










Jh 






































u 

I 

o3 






. o3 *h 

g ^ 5! 
£ > £ 






o3 

> 






a 

a 






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CD 
> 


© 


^ a 

■a | 






CO 






ft 




OS 






O T-5 CN 






co 






-T^ 






>6 




CO 






t^ 






<x 





36 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

F. Irregular Verbs of 1st Conjugation 

A few verbs ending in e have a slight peculiarity, con- 
sisting of a regular sound change in certain tenses. 

Verbs with infinitive e whose preceding syllable contains 
9 or e, change this 9 to e in the following forms : 

Present indicative, 1st, 2d, 3d singular; 3d plural. 
Present subjunctive, same as above. 
Future and conditional, all forms. 
Imperative, 2d singular. 

(a) List of irregular verbs of 1st conjugation: 

lave, to raise 3ale, to freeze 

mane, to lead sede, to yield 

am(a)ne, to bring espere, to hope 

ram(a)ne, to bring back rejie, to reign 

sa prom(a)ne, to take a walk prefere, to prefer 

ap(a)le, to call repete, to repeat 

3ate, to throw posede, to possess 

a$(a)te, to buy selebre, to celebrate 

G. Compound Tenses 

French has two auxiliaries have to form compound tenses, 
avwair and eitr. avwair is used to form the compound 
tenses of all transitive (not reflexive) and most intransitive 
verbs; eitr is used to form the compound tenses of a few in- 
transitive and all reflexive verbs. The compound tenses are 
formed by prefixing these auxiliaries to the past participles. 
The conjunctive pronouns, when they precede the verb, are 
put immediately before the auxiliaries, and if the verb is 
negative, the second part of the negative is put immediately 
after the auxiliaries. 

Ex.: / have given = 3 e done. 

I have given it to him = 3a la lqi e done. 

I haven't given it to him = 3a na la lqi e pa done. 



GRAMMAR 37 

He has gone to Paris = il et ale a pari. 
He has hurt himself =i\ s e blese. 

The perfect tense =present of avwair or e:tr+a past parti- 
ciple. 

The pluperfect tense = imperfect of avwair or e:tr+a past 
participle. 

The future perfect tense = future of avwair or eitr+a past 
participle. 

The conditional perfect tense = conditional of avwair or 
eitr+a past participle. 

The perfect subjunctive tense =present subjunctive of 
avwair or eitr+a past participle. 

H. Passive Voice 

The auxiliary eitr with the past participle of transitive 
verbs forms the passive voice. By, with the agent, is par 
(sometimes da). 

Ex.: / am blamed by my friend = 53 sqi blame par m5n ami. 
He is -punished by his mother = il e pyni par sa me:r. 

The passive is much less used in French than in English. 
For a discussion of various substitutes, see Rule, page 38. 

The average student appears to have great difficulty in 
getting a clear notion of the important distinction between 
the verb to be followed by the past participle used as a 
predicate adjective and the true passive voice of a verb. 

Compare the following sentences: (a) Every time a volley 
was fired at least a hundred men were wounded; (Jo) As the 
men marched by we saw that many of them were wounded. 

(a) In the first sentence, were wounded is the passive 
voice of the verb to wound and denotes the act of a projectile 
striking a man. 



38 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

(b) In the second, the participle wounded expresses mere 
condition resulting from some act, and is therefore a predi- 
cate adjective. 

Rule : In translating the passive voice into French several 
constructions are possible: 

1. If the agent is expressed we may make it the subject 
of an active sentence with the former subject in the accusa- 
tive; or we may retain the passive construction, taking care 
to use the same tense that would be used in the active. 

2. If no agent is expressed we may use the active voice 
with 5 (one) as subject and the original subject in the accu- 
sative. 

Ex.: 1. The boy was punished by his father = lo pe:r a pyni so garso, or 
fa garso a ete pyni par so pe:r. 
2. The wood was cut yesterday at three o'clock = on a kupe h bwa 
je:r a trwaz ce:r. 

Interrogation 

There are three main word-orders in French interrogative 
sentences. 

1. Any statement may be turned into a question merely 
by prefixing the phrase e-s k(a). 

Ex.: He has not arrived = il n c paz arive. 

Hasn't he arrived? = e-s k il n e paz arive? 

2. If the subject is: 

(a) a personal pronoun, subject and verb are inverted as 
in English. 

Ex.: Has he arrived? = et-il arive? 

When did he arrive? = ka et-il arive? 

(6) an interrogative pronoun or a noun modified by an in- 
terrogative adjective, the order is the same as in English. 

Ex.: Who is coming? =ki vje? 

What books are the best? = kel li:vr so le mejoeir? 



GRAMMAR 39 

3. If the subject is anything other than one of the above 
forms, it precedes the verb and is repeated immediately 
after lihe verb by a personal pronoun of the same person, 
number, and gender. 

Ex.: Has your father arrived? =votr pe:r et-il arive? 

Why did your brother go to New York f = purkwa votr fre:r et-il 
ale a New- York? 

Negation 

1. The negative idea is expressed in French by two words. 
The first of these is na which precedes the verb. The sec- 
ond differs to express different negative meanings. The 
following are the most common negatives: 

not=ii3 ... pa no more =na . . . ply 

not at all = na . . . pwe nothing = na . . .rje 

never = iid . . . 3ame nobody = na . . . person 

scarcely = na . . . ge:r only = ns . . . ka 

2. In simple tenses na immediately follows the subject and 
pa follows the verb. 

Ex.: He is not coming =il na vje pa. 
He knows nothing =il na se rje. 

Note, na . . . ka is used only with an expressed verb. 

3. In other cases translate only by soelma. 

Ex.: He has only one book = i\ nakce li:vr. 

Only your brother knows t hat = soelma votr freir se sla. 

4. In compound tenses the second part of the negative 
is placed between the auxiliary and the past participle. 

Ex.: He has not yet come = '\\ n e paz akor vany. 
They have never seen it = '\\ na 1 5 3ame vy. 

5. person, however, takes the position of the English word 
nobody, and ka takes the position of the English word only. 



40 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Ex.: He met nobody = il n a rakotre person. 

He saw them only twice = il no lez a vy ko da fwa. 
Note. The above rules apply also to negative questions. 
Ex.: Hasn't he come? = n et-il pa vony? 

6. rje and person may be used as the subject of a sentence. 
In this case they stand first in the clause and are followed 
immediately by na. 

Ex.: Nobody came to-day = person n e vony 03urdiji. 

7. In a negative expression without a verb na is omitted, 
and only the second part of the negative is used. 

Ex.: No more soup, thank you = p\y d(o) sup, mersi. 
Who came? Nobody = ki e vony? person. 

8. When an infinitive is negatived, both negative words 
usually precede the infinitive. 

Ex.: He hopes not to see it-H espeir no pa lo vwa:r. 

But person and ka stand in their normal position. 

Ex.: He hopes to see only his brother = il esperr no vwa:r ko so fre:r. 

9. Neither . . . nor is expressed: 

(a) With finite verbs by na before the first verb and ni 
na before the second. 

(6) With other words by na before the main verb and ni 
before each of the words affected. 

Ex.: (a) He neither works nor plays = il no travaj ni no 3U. 

(6) He can neither read nor write = il no se ni li:r ni ekriir. 

Neither the father nor the mother speaks English = ni lo pe:r 
ni la me:r no pari agle. 

Reflexive Conjugation 

Any transitive verb whose meaning will permit may be 
conjugated reflexively by putting after each subject an ob- 
ject pronoun of the same person. 



GRAMMAR 41 

Ex.: He bites = il mor. 

He bites himself = il sa mor. 
/ wash the table = 3a lav la tabl. 
/ wash myself = ?p ma lav. 

(a) A number of common French verbs have a special 
meaning when used reflexively. These should be memorized 
as units. 

s an ale = to go away sa lave = to get up 

s ap(a)le = £o be named sa metr a = to begin to 

s apro$e da = to approach sa moke da = to make fun of 

s arete = to stop sa pase da = to do without 

s aswa:r = fo sit down sa ple:dr = fo complain 

sa ha.tr = to fight sa prom(a)ne = £o take a walk 

sa ku$e = fo go to bed sa radr = to go 

s ekrije = fo exclaim sa serviir da = to use 

s aryme = fo catch cold sa suvaniir da = to remember 

sa fa$e = to <7e£ angT?/ sa trope = to be mistaken 

(b) A few tenses of s an ale 

Present Perfect Perfect Negative 

33 m a ve 3a m ci sqiz ale 3a na m a sqi paz ale, 

ty t 5 va ty t fin ez ale etc. 

il s a va il s an et ale 

nu nuz fin alo nu nuz fi somz ale 

vu vuz fin ale vu vuz fin etz ale 

il s fi vo il s fi sot ale 

Present Interrogative Perfect Interrogative 

vuz fin ale-vu? Vuz fin et-vuz ale? 

etc. etc. 

Use of Tenses 

1. The present is used to translate: We go, we are going, 
we do not go. 

It is also used (with dapqi) to denote an act that began in 
the past and is still going on : 

Ex.: He has been in this country three months = il e dfi sa pei dapqi 
trwa mwa. 



42 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

2. The English perfect and past are both translated by 
the French perfect : 

Ex.: He has done it to-day = '\\ 1 a fe 03urdu;i. 
He did it yesterday = il 1 a fe je:r. 

3. The English phrases 'was doing' or 'used to do' or 
'would do' (meaning 'used to') are expressed by the im- 
perfect tense in French: 

Ex.: He was singing when I entered = il §ate ka 30 sqiz atre. 

4. The English pluperfect denoting an act that began in 
the past and was still going on when another act intervened 
is expressed in French by the imperfect and dapui: 

Ex.: / had been there two hours when he came = 3 ete la dapqi doz oe:r 
kat il e vany. 

5. An English immediate future is often translated by 
ale plus infinitive. 

Ex.: Now I shall eat something = metna 30 ve ma 30 kelka $oz. 

6. After when and as soon as French uses the future tense 
if the idea is future: 

Ex.: When he comes, I'll tell him = kat il vjgdra, 30 la lqi dire. 
Give it to him when you see him = done-la lqi ka vu la vere. 

7. Conditional sentences. 

French and English conditional sentences are alike in the 
conclusion. 

(a) When the conclusion is present or future use the 
present in the zj-clause. 

(b) When the conclusion is conditional use the imperfect 
in the if-clause. 

(c) When the conclusion is a compound tense apply these 
rules to the auxiliaries. 



GRAMMAR 43 

Ex.: If he comes, I shall see him = s il vje, 39 la vere. 

// you should invite me, I'd go with you = si vu m evitje, 3 ire 

avek vu. 
If you had told me so, I should have believed you = si vu ma 1 avje 

di, 3a vuz ore kry. 

8. How long +perfect tense in English = dapin* ka+present. 
Ex.: How long have you been here? = dapqi ka et-vuz isi? 

How fo/ig+pluperfect tense = dapin* ka+imperfect. 

Ex.: How long had you lived there? = dapqi ka damoerje-vu la? 

9. The following verbs are generally used in the imperfect 
tense in French: 

(a) avwair, eitr. 

(6) Verbs denoting emotion or mental activity. 

10. Past participles: 

(a) With auxiliary eitr participle agrees with subject. 

(6) With auxiliary avwair participle agrees only with a 
preceding direct object. 

(c) Reflexive verbs are treated as if avwair were the aux- 
iliary. 

11. The following verbs use eitr instead of avwair to form 
their compound tenses: 

ale atre desa:dr reste tobe 

arive muri:r mote rav(a)ni:r vani:r 

dav(a)ni:r neitr partur sorti:r 

12. Distinguish carefully between the following uses of 
the verb to be: 

(a) To denote a state: the house is finished. 

(b) To denote the passive voice : the house was finished in 
1912. 



44 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

In (a) the participle finished is merely an adjective. 
In (b) .we have the passive voice of the verb to finish. 

This may be translated in several ways: 

1. la mezo a ete fini a 1912. 

2. 5 a fini la mezo a 1912. 

But never by the imperfect of the passive. 

Some Important Verb Meanings 

1. Shall and will, should and would (in principal clauses), 
are often more than mere auxiliary signs of the future and 
the conditional respectively. When a distinct verbal force 
is felt in them : 

(a) Shall expressing a notion of propriety, expediency or 
moral obligation, as, 'Shall I do this?' (i.e., 'Am I to?' 
'Am I expected to?' as things are) is translated by the 
present of davwair. 

Ex.: Shall I speak ? = dwa-3 parle? 
Shall he do it? = dwat-il la fe:r? 

(b) Should expressing the above notions, as, 'Should I do 
this?' (i.e., 'Ought I to?' 'Would it be expected of me?'), 
is translated by the conditional of davwair. 

Ex.: Should he write? = davret-il ekriir? 

No, he shouldn't do ^ = no, il na davre pa la fe:r. 

(c) Will expressing a notion of willingness, consent, as, 
'Will you do this?' (i.e., 'Are you willing to?'), is translated 
by the present of vulwair bje. 

Ex.: Will you come? = vule-vu bje vani:r? 

(d) Would expressing the above notions, as, 'Would you 
do this?' (i.e., 'Would you be willing to?'), is translated by 
the conditional of vulwair bje. 



GRAMMAR 45 

Ex.: You would do it for me, wouldn't you? = vu vudrije bje la fe:r 
pur mwa, n e-s pa? 

In the negative with both will and would bje is omitted. 

2. Should have, meaning ought to have, is rendered by the 
perfect conditional of dovwair plus an infinitive. 

Ex. : He should have done it = il ore dy la f e:r. 

Would have, meaning would have been willing to, is rendered 
by the perfect conditional of vulwair bje plus an infinitive. 

Ex.: Would you have done it for me? = e-s ka vuz orje bje vuly la fe:r 
pur mwa? 

Must denoting supposition or certainty inferred from 
some known fact is usually expressed by the present of 
davwair. 

Ex.: He must be there now (i.e., He probably is there) =il dwat e:tr 
la metna. 

Must have is translated by the perfect of davwair. 

Ex.: He must have been rich =il a dy e;tr ri§. 

May and can in principal clauses are generally translated 
by the present tense of puvwair; might and could (in the 
sense of would be able) by the conditional of puvwair. 
Ex.: That may be true = sla pot e:tr vre. 

He can walk now = il pe mar$e metna. 

He might come = i\ pure voni:r. 

He could find it if he looked for it = i\ pure la truve, s il la $er§e. 

Could, meaning was able, is translated by a past tense of 
puvwair. 

Ex.: He couldn't rise=i\ na puve pa sa lave. 

May have and can have are translated by the perfect of 
puvwair plus an infinitive; might have and could have by the 
perfect conditional of puvwair plus an infinitive. 



46 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Ex. : He may have said it = i\ a py la di:r. 
He might have said it = il ore py la di:r. 

Verb Idioms 

1. Must ) ( +infinitive if subject is a per- 

\ +& verb=il fo I sonal pronoun. 
Haveto J I +ka+subjunctive, otherwise. 

Ex.: I must go to Boston = il ma fo ale a Boston. 

My father has to go to Boston = il fo ka mo pe:r a:j a Boston. 

2. Ought = conditional of davwair when the subject is 

some definite person or persons. 
= present of davwair when the subject is general 
or indefinite, as one, people, etc. 

Ex.: He ought not to go there = il na davre paz i ale. 

We ought always to tell the truth = nu davo tu3ur di:r la verite. 

3. Am to= present 1 - , •/-•,• 
„, M . P .of d9vwa:r-|-mfinitive. 
Was /o = imperfect J 

Ex.: I am to dine with him =$9 dwa dine avek lqi. 
/ was to dine with him = 33 dave dine avek lqi. 

4. Will 2/owf+infinitive=vule-vu? 

Ex.: Will you come with me? =vule-vu vaniir avek mwa? 

5. To be wz7Zmg+infinitive=vulwair bje+infinitive. (In 
negative we drop bje.) 

Ex. : / am willing to go with you = $s vo bje ale avek vu. 
He is not willing to come = il na vo pa vaniir. 

6. To be going to + infini tive= ale -f- infinitive. 

Ex.: He is going to speak =il va parle. 

7. To come and 1 , , f vaniir \ . n . 

To go and ) +Verb= { ale j + infinitive - 



GRAMMAR 47 

Ex.: He came and saw me=il e vany ma vwa:r. 
He goes and sees him=i\ va la vwa:r. 

8. To have just+past participle =vani:r da+infinitive. 

Ex.: He has just gone out = il vje da sorti:r. 
He had just gone out=H vane da sortiir. 

9. To know how fo+verb = savwair+innnitive. 

Ex.: He can read and write = il se li:r e ekrhr. 

10. Used fo+verb= imperfect tense of the verb. 

Ex.: He used to live in Paris = il damcere a pari. 

11. To have something dowc=feir+infinitive. 

To have someone do something =feir+infimtive +some- 
thing+someone {dot.)'. See Illustrative Sentences 
150-157 on pages 78-81. 

12. To /iave+noun+infinitive = avwair+noun+a+infini- 
tive if the idea of the infinitive is passive. 

Ex.: We have three letters to write = nuz avo trwa let a ekriir. 

13. To /jai'e+noun+infinitive=avwair+noun+da+infini- 
tive if the idea of the infinitive is not passive. 

Ex.: Have you the courage to do that? = ave-vu la kura:3 da fe:r sla? 

14. To bring a thing = aporte. 

To bring a person = am(8)ne. 

Ex.: Bring me a book = aporte-mwa de li:vr. 
Bring him with you = amne-la avek vu. 

15. To take (take hold of or pick up) =pra:dr. 
To take (carry a thing) =porte. 

To take a person = am (3) ne. 

Ex.: Take this pen=prane set plym. 

Take this book to him = porte hn' sa li:vr. 
Take him with you = amne-la avek vu, 



48 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

16. To leave ( = not take with you) =lese. 
To leave ( = go awa?/) =parti:r. 
To leave (=go away from) = partiir do or kite. 
To go away = s an ale. 
To go out (or come out) =SDrti:r. 

Ex.: Leave it on the table = lese-lo syr la tabl. 

Leave this town (man) =kite (parte do) set vil (om). 

He has lcft = i\ e parti. 

He went away = \\ s an et ale. 

They came out of the town = '\\ so sorti do la vil. 



17. To look at 
To look for 
To ask for 
To pay for 
To wait for 
To listen to 



are in French simple verbs governing the 
accusative without preposition. 



Ex.: Look at the racm = rogarde 1 am. 
Look for my 6oofc = $er$e mo li:vr. 
Ask him for a book = domade lui (3e li:vr. 
Pay him for the book = peje lui lo li:vr. 
Wait for your brother = atade votr f re:r. 
Listen to the music = ekute la myzik. 

18. The following verbs do not govern a dative pronoun, 
but require a+a disjunctive: ale, vaniir, kuriir, p&se, e:tr. 

Ex.: He goes to her =il va a el. It is miners et a mwa. 

19. It zs+adjective+ infinitive =il e + adjective -f da + infini- 
tive if infinitive is real subject. 

Ex.: It is easy to speak English = il e fasil do parle agle. 

It z's+adjective+ infinitive = s e+adjective+a+infinitive if 
it is real subject. 

Ex.: It's easy to do = s e fasil a fe:r. 



GRAMMAR 49 

20. The following verbs govern the dative case of a per- 
sonal object, i.e., a noun preceded by the preposition a or a 
conjunctive indirect object pronoun: 

Examples 

obeiir: he obeys him=il lqi obei. 

damade: he asks him for a book = il Iqi domad tie li:vr. 

peje: he pays him two francs = il lqi pe do fra. 

pardone: he pardons lhe?n = i\ lce:r pardon. 

di:r: he told it to him = il lo lqi a di. 

defaidr: he forbids them to go = i\ loeir defa d ale. 

repo:dr: he answers her = i\ lqi rep 5. 

5 vulwa:r: you have a grudge against them = vu loerr d vule. 

ple:r: that pleases her = sla, lqi pie. 

fe:r mal: you have hurt him=vu lqi ave fe mal. 

21. The following verbs govern the genitive case of an 
object (person or thing), i.e., a noun or pronoun preceded 
by the preposition da, or, in case the object is a pronoun 
referring to a thing, the word a is used: 

Examples 

s apersavwa:r: he noticed it = il s an et apersy. 

S9 suvaniir: he remembers you=il s a suvje do vu. 

sa serviir: he uses pencils = il so ser do krejo. 

s aproje: he approaches the house = il s apro§ do la mezo. 

sa pase: he goes without a hat=i\ so pas do $apo. 

sa moke: they make fun of him =il sa mok do lqi. 

3ui:r: he enjoys it=i\ a 3ui. 

profite: they profit by ^ = ilz a profit. 

s etone: he is surprised at you = il s eton do vu. 

make: he lacks courage = '\\ mak do kura:3. 

dute: he doubts it = 'A a dut. 

Infinitive and Present Participle 

The infinitive is the verbal noun, corresponding not only to 
the English infinitive give, to give, but to the English gerund 
giving. As verb it governs, and as noun it may be subject 



50 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

or object, with or without a preposition before it, just as in 
English the infinitive give is used with or without to before it : 

Ex.: / can give. / like to give. It is generous to give. And just as 
the gerund giving is used either alone or with a variety of prepositions. 

Ex. : Giving is generous. I admit giving. / refrain from giving. He 
is admired for giving. 

A. Infinitive as Subject 

The infinitive as subject before a verb is not preceded by 
a preposition, but in its commoner use as logical subject 
after an impersonal verb it must nearly always be preceded 

by d9. 

Ex.: Killing is a crime = tu;e et ce krim. 
But: It's a crime to kill = s ct dc krim do tqe. 

It's impossible to speak = il et eposibl do parle. 

B. Infinitive as Object 

Without a Preposition. 

1. The chief difficulty in the use of the infinitive is to de- 
termine what, if any, preposition must precede it when it 
depends upon another word. This must be largely a matter 
for observation and reference to a dictionary, as no rule 
can cover the great variety of cases. The commonest verbs, 
about fifty in number, require no preposition with a de- 
pendent infinitive. Among them are many indicating 
motion, sensation, desire, belief, or declaration. 

(a) Motion: Go see = ale vwair; go in and see-atre vwair. 

(6) Sensation : / saw him come = 39 1 e vy V9ni:r. 

(c) Desire: I want to see = 39 v0 vwair. 

(d) Belief: He believes he has seen that = H krwa avwair vy 
sla. 

(e) Declaration: I affirm that I have seen that = 3 afirm 
avwair vy sla. 



GRAMMAR 51 

2. fe:r followed immediately by a dependent infinitive 
forms many causative compounds translated generally in 
English by have, make, get, in formal language cause to, fol- 
lowed by an active or passive infinitive. 

Ex. : To have him come = h fe:r voniir. 

To have me punished = ma fe:r pyniir. 

If there is only one object (noun or pronoun), it must be 
direct; if there are two objects, the agent is always indirect 
and the object of his action direct. Conjunctive pronoun 
objects precede the compound (except in the affirmative 
imperative, when they divide it). All other objects follow 
the compound. 

For a complete set of examples, see Illustrative Sentences 
150-157 on pages 78-81. 

Note, par is often used with the agent, as in passive verbs. 

Ex.: He had this book read by his pupils = il a fe li:r so liivr par sez 
ele:v. 

Infinitive with a. 

1. A much larger number of words (including nouns and 
adjectives, as well as verbs) require a with a dependent in- 
finitive. Often the infinitive completes the sense by answer- 
ing the question for what? at or in what? 

(a) For ivhat? 

That serves to prove that he went = slsi se:r a pruve k il et ale. 
He is ready to start = il e pre:t a parti:r. 
A dining-room =yn sal a m&3e. 

(b) At or in what? 

He was busy (at) writing = il s okype a ekri:r. 

/ have difficulty in doing that = 3 e eta la pen a fe:r sla. 

I am having a good time (in) looking on =39 m amyz a ragarde. 

2. The infinitive preceded by a often has a passive force. 



52 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

Ex.: An error to be avoided = yn erceir a evite. 
It is to be hoped = s ct a espere. 
It's a thing to be done = s et yn $o:z a fe:r. 

By this it may be distinguished from the infinitive with 
do as logical subject of an impersonal verb. 

Ex.: That is impossible to do=sla ct eposibl a fe:r; but in It is im- 
possible to do that = '\\ et eposibl do fe:r ski, the infinitive cannot be 
turned into a passive. 

Infinitive with da. 

A still larger number of words require da with a dependent 
infinitive. In many cases da retains its prepositional force, 
of, from. Often, too, the infinitive explains the cause of the 
action of the verb, in answer to a possible question why? 

0) Of, from. 

That keeps me from sleeping = sla m &pe$ do dormiir. 

The joy of living = la 3wa da vi:vr. 

He is capable of doing that = il e kapabl do fe:r sla. 

(6) Why? 

I am much astonished at hearing that = ^o m eton boku d <ita:dr 

sla. 
/ thank you for having sent me a letter = 30 vu romersi do 

m avwa:r avwaje yn letr. 
He prides himself on being noble = il so pik d e:tr nobl. 

C. Infinitive with Other Prepositions 

The infinitive is also used after par, pur, sa, apre, aitr, 
and after a number of compound prepositions ending in da 
or a, such as ava da, before; pre da, near; lwe da, far from; afe 
da, in order to; 3ysk a, even to, etc. 

1. Of these, par, by, is used after komase and finiir, with 
the latter verb in the sense of finally. 



GRAMMAR 53 

Ex.: He began by flattering me and he ended by insulting rae=il a 
komase par ma flate e il a fini par m esylte. 
He finally killed the bear = il a fini par tqe 1 urs. 

2. pur referring to the future expresses purpose, to, for the 
purpose of, in order to. With a verb of motion it emphasizes 
the idea of purpose. 

Ex.: He works to earn a living = il travaj pur gape la vi. 

He came for the purpose of seeing you = i\ e vany pur vu vwa:r. 
But: He came to see you=\\ e vany vu vwair. 

pur referring to the past expresses cause, for, because of, 
and is generally followed by the perfect infinitive. 

Ex. : They punished him for having disobeyed = 5 1 a pyni pur avwair 
dezobei. 

Note. The perfect infinitive always expresses an action completed 
before that of the main verb begins. Ex.: After lighting his pipe he 
went out = aprez avwair alyme sa pip il c sorti. apre is always followed 
by the perfect infinitive. 

Present Participle 

1. The present participle is the verbal adjective, govern- 
ing like a verb, and modifying a noun or pronoun like an 
adjective. It corresponds to the English participle giving, 
just as the infinitive corresponds to the English gerund 
giving, the difference between the two being that, although 
both may govern like a verb, the participle, like an adjec- 
tive, modifies a noun or pronoun, while the gerund, like a 
noun, is subject or object. Whenever, therefore, a verb is 
used as subject or object it must be in the infinitive, except 
after the preposition 5, in which case a gerund form in a is 
used instead of the infinitive. 

2. When the present participle loses entirely its verbal 
force, it is a pure adjective, agreeing in gender and number 



54 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

with a noun or pronoun; but if it retains any notion of ac- 
tion it is invariable. 

Ex.: A wandering life = yn vi erait; but / met a woman wandering in 
the woods = 3 e rakatre yn fam era da la bwa. 
An astonishing thing = yn §o:z etonait; but A thing astonishing 
everybody = yn §o:z etona tu 1 m5:d. 

Gerund. After the preposition a, equivalent to while, on, 
in, by, the gerund in a is used instead of the infinitive, gen- 
erally referring to the subject of the sentence. 

Ex.: On looking at him closely I noticed . . ,=ab rogarda da pre, 3 e 
ramarke . . . 
While taking a walk this morning I met my friend = a ma pro- 
mona sa mate 3 e rakatre man ami. 

Note. Observe that after verbs of sensation an infinitive is gener- 
ally used in French instead of a participle. Ex.: / saw him knocking 
at the door = 3a 1 e vy frape a la part. 



SUBJUNCTIVE — SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 

Use. The subjunctive is used chiefly in subordinate 
clauses, introduced by ka (or a relative pronoun) , dependent 
upon a main statement that implies doubt, uncertainty, or 
mere possibility in regard to the realization of anything. 
In most cases it is translated in English by the indicative; 
sometimes, however, by the infinitive or by the auxiliary 
forms with should, would, may, might. It is used in three 
classes of subordinate clauses: (1) in Noun Clauses, which 
are the subject or object of the main verb; (2) in Adverbial 
Clauses, which modify the main verb; and (3) in Adjec- 
tival or Relative Clauses, which modify a noun or pro- 
noun in the main clause. In most of these clauses its use 
is parallel with that of the infinitive and the indicative, 
with some important differences, however, which will be 
noted below. 

A. Noun Clauses. 1. Logical Subject. Like the infinitive, 
the subjunctive may be the logical subject of many imper- 
sonal verbs, implying uncertainty as to the realization of an 
act or idea. Among such verbs are the following: 

il kovje = ^ is fitting il 8 ta =it is time 

il e 3yst=^ is right il fo=^ is necessary 

il e posibl=^ is possible il eport = it is important 

When there is a noun subject in the dependent clause the 
subjunctive is generally used instead of the infinitive. 

Infinitive 

il 8 3yst (posibl, etc.) do fe:r sola. 
It is right (possible, etc.) to do that. 
55 



56 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



Subjunctive 

il e 3yst (posibl, etc.) ko vu fasje sola. 

It is right (possible, etc.) that you should do that. 

il e ta ko mo fre:r finis so travaj. 

It is time that my brother should (for my brother to) finish his work. 

■ 

2. Object. The subjunctive may be used in object clauses 
after many verbs which in some cases require the infinitive 
or the indicative. 

(a) Verbs of desiring, willing, begging, commanding, per- 
mitting, preventing, forbidding, etc., implying uncertainty 
as to the realization of the object. 

Among such verbs are: 

defuidr = to forbid ordone = fo order, command 

domade=fo ask, beg pcrmetr = /o allow, permit 

ape:$e = fo prevent vulwa:r (bje)=/o want (be willing) 

When the principal and the dependent verb have the 
same subject, the infinitive must be used, and it is generally 
used even when they have different subjects (except after 
verbs of desiring and willing). 



Infinitive 

30 V0 parle. 

/ want to speak, will speak. 

il V0 bje vuz ekute. 

He is willing to listen to you. 

il mo doma:d 

il mo defa 

il m ordon \ do fe:r sola. 

il mo perme 

il m ape:$ 

He asks, forbids, orders, allows me 
to do that, he prevents me from 



Subjunctive 

30 V0 k il pari. 

I want him to (that he should) 
speak, will have him speak. 

il V0 bje ko vu lqi parlje. 
He is willing that you should 
speak to him. 

il domaid ] 

il defa 

il ordon I ko 30 fas sola. 

il perme 

il ape:$ 

He asks, forbids, orders, allows me 
to do that, he prevents me from 



SUBJUNCTIVE — SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 



57 



doing that (when the request, 
prohibition, etc., are made di- 
rectly to the person) . 



doing that (when the request, 
prohibition, etc., are not made 
directly to the person). 



(6) Verbs or expressions of emotion or feeling (surprise, 
joy, sorrow, anger, fear, shame, etc.). 
Among such verbs are : 

~ avwair 5:t = to be ashamed s etone=fo be surprised 

avwair pceir=fr> be afraid eitr koto. = to be glad 

kre:dr = to fear eitr dezole = to be very sorry 

e:tr fa$e = fo be sorry, angry 

The infinitive can be used as object of such expressions 
only when the principal and the dependent verb have the 
same subject, the subjunctive only when they have differ- 
ent subjects. After verbs of fearing, no is generally used 
with the dependent subjunctive when the thing feared is 
regarded as on the whole likely to be realized. 

Subjunctive 

30 m eton k il 8 di sola. 

/ am surprised that he (should 
have) said, at his saying (hav- 
ing said) that. 

39 sqi kota ko vu swaje vony. 
/ am glad that you came (have 
come) . 

30 sqi dezole k il swa malad. 
/ am very sorry that he is sick. 

3 e 5:t k il e fe sola. 
/ am ashamed that he did (should 
have done) that. 

30 kre k il no vjen. 
/ am afraid (that) he will (may) 
come. 

39 no kre pa k il vjen. 

I am not afraid (that) he will come. 



Infinitive 

30 m eton do vu vwair isi. 
/ am surprised to see (at seeing) 
you here. 

30 sqi koto, do vu vwair isi. 
J am glad to see you. 

30 sqi dezole do 1 ataidr. 
I am very sorry to hear it. 

3 e oit d avwe sola. 

I am ashamed to confess that. 

30 kre d i ale. 

/ am afraid to go there. 



58 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

(c) Verbs of belief and declaration. 

After such verbs the subjunctive is used only when doubt 
or uncertainty predominates in the mood of the speaker 
(usually when the verbs are interrogative, negative, or con- 
ditional) , otherwise the indicative must be used. If the prin- 
cipal and the dependent verb have the same subject, however, 
the infinitive may replace the subjunctive or the indicative. 

Indicative Subjunctive 

30 krwa k il fora sola, krwajc-vu k il fas sola? 

/ think (that) he will do that. Do you think (that) he will do that? 

no krwaje-vu pa k il fora sola? 30 no krwa pa k il fas sola. 

Don't you think (i.e., you do, don't I don't think (that) he will do that, 
you?) (that) he will do that? 

il di (asyr, espeir, e syr, s ima3in, il no di pa (n asyr pa, etc.) ko vu 

etc.) ko vu fore sola. fasje sola. 

He says (affirms, hopes, is sure, He doesn't say (affirm, hope, feel 

fancies, etc.) (that) you will do sure, imagine) (that) you will do 

that. that. 

Infinitive 
Replacing indicative Replacing subjunctive 

30 krwa avwa:r di sola. 30 no krwa paz avwarr di sola. 

/ think (that) I said that. I don't think (that) I said that. 

Verbs of doubting and denying require the subjunctive in 
all cases instead of the indicative, ka after verbs of doubt- 
ing is usually translated by if, but (that). When the object 
of the doubt or denial is regarded as on the whole likely to 
be realized, na is generally used with the subjunctive. 

30 dut k il mo diz la verite. I doubt if he tells (is telling) me 

the truth. 
o, 30 no dut pa k il no mo diz la Oh, I don't doubt but that he is 
verite. telling me the truth. 

B. Adverbial Clauses. The indicative, subjunctive, and 
infinitive are used in subordinate clauses modifying the prin- 
cipal verb. Such clauses may be: 



SUBJUNCTIVE — SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 59 

(a) Temporal Clauses, indicating the time of the principal 
action. In such clauses the indicative is used when the sub- 
ordinate event is described as having actually taken place 
or being about to take place (after such conjunctions as ka, 
brska, when; apre ka, after, etc.)'; the subjunctive only when 
uncertainty is implied as to the realization of the event 
(after such conjunctions as ava ka, before; 3ysk a s ka, ka, 
until) ; and the infinitive (after the prepositions ava da, apre) 
only when the principal and the dependent verb have the 
same subject. 

Indicative Subjunctive 

39 n etc pa la kcit il e vony. il partira ava ko vu truvje sola. 

I was not there when he came. He will go before you find that. 

30 suiz arive apre k il ave fe sola. atade 3ysk a s ko nuz arivjo. 
I arrived after he had done that. Wait until we come. 

Infinitive 

ava da partiir vane mo vwair. 
Before going, come (and) see me. 

aprez avwair fe sola, il e parti. 
After having done that, he went away. 

(b) Purpose Clauses, indicating the motive of the prin- 
cipal action. Since these clauses always imply uncertainty 
as to the realization of the purpose, they require the sub- 
junctive instead of the indicative (after such conjunctions 
as pur ka, afe ka, in order that). The infinitive, however, 
may be used (after the prepositions pur, afe da, to, in order 
to) when the principal and the dependent verb have the 
same subject. 

Infinitive Subjunctive 

il 1 a di pur (afe do) mo trope. 30 Is di pur ko (afe ko) vu swajez 

averti dy da3e. 
He said it to (in order to) deceive I say it in order that you may be 
me. warned of the danger. 



60 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

(c) Result Clauses, indicating the result of the main 
action. The indicative is used in these clauses (after such 
conjunctions as da sorts ka, da manjeir ka, so that) only 
when the result was actually accomplished, the subjunctive 
only when uncertainty is implied as to its accomplishment. 
The infinitive may be used (after the prepositions da fas5 a, 
da manjeir a, so as to) when the principal and the dependent 
verb have the same subject. 

Indicative Subjunctive 

il a parle da manjeir ka tu 1 moid parlc do manjeir ko tu 1 moid vuz 

1 a atady. utfnd. 

He spoke so that everybody heard Speak so that everybody will hear 

him. you. 

Infinitive 

il a parle do manjeir a trope tu 1 moid. 

He spoke in such a way as to deceive everybody. 

(d) Conditional Clauses. The indicative is regularly used 
after si, if; the subjunctive, generally, after other conjunc- 
tions, such as a mwe ka, unless (often with na before the 
verb); purvy ka, provided that; a kodisjo ka, on condition 
that, etc. 

Indicative Subjunctive 

s il vje, 30 lo lm" dire. 30 no lo lm" donre pa a mwe k il 

(no) lo fas. 
If he comes, I shall tell him (it). I shall not give it to him unless he 

does it. 

s il vone, 30 lo lia* dire. 30 lo Iqi donre purvy k il la fas. 

If he came (should come), / / shall give it to him provided 

should tell him (it). (that) he does it. 

(e) Clauses introduced by negative expressions (such as 
sfi ka, without; lwe ka, far from; no ka, not that) that clearly 
imply the non-realization of the act or idea, and therefore 
require the subjunctive, instead of the indicative, after 



SUBJUNCTIVE — SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 61 

them. The infinitive, however, may be used (after the 
prepositions sa, without; lwe da, far from) when the prin- 
cipal and the dependent verb have the same subject. 

Infinitive Subjunctive 

il e parti sa ma di:r adJ0, il e parti sa ka 33 lm' 8 di adJ0. 

He went away without saying He went away without my saying 

good-by to me. (having said) good-by to him. 

(/) Concessive Clauses, introduced by kwaka, bje ko, al- 
though, after which the subjunctive alone can be used. 

Ex.: kwak il na swa pa ri$, il e tre 3ener0 = although he is not rich, he 
is very generous. 

C. Adjectival Clauses. Both the indicative and the sub- 
junctive are used in relative clauses modifying a noun or 
pronoun antecedent in the principal clause. The indica- 
tive is required when the antecedent actually exists, the 
subjunctive when mere possibility as to its existence is 
implied, 

Indicative Subjunctive 

s et den om ki n a prsska okde defo. tmve-mwa den om ki n 8 okde defo. 
He is a man who has almost no Find me a man who has (may 
faults. have) no faults. 

(a) If the antecedent is qualified by a superlative expres- 
sion, the indicative is used only when the statement is to 
be regarded as literally true, the subjunctive when it is ad- 
mittedly an exaggeration. 

Ex.: It's the only (the best, the first, the last) thing that I saw=s e 
la soel (la m8Jce:r, la pramjeir, la dernjeir) §o:z ka 3 e vy (if 
literally true); ka 3 s vy (if an exaggeration). 

No mention is made here of the forms or uses of the 
imperfect subjunctive, since they are unnecessary in the 
modern spoken language. 



62 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

D. Principal Clauses. The subjunctive is used in the 
third person with imperative force, supplying the place of a 
third person imperative. 

Ex.: k il lo fas = let him (have him) do it. 

Note. The infinitive likewise has imperative force in commands 
or requests made to whom it may concern, as in public notices. 

Ex.: evite le kotrofaso = avoid imitations. 

domcide o byro = inquire at the office, etc. 

Exercises on Subjunctive 

1. Do you think that is possible? 2. I believe they have 
gone. 3. I don't think he is in the house. 4. Are you sure 
he has done all his work? 5. Do you want me to finish the 
work to-day? 6. I should like to come [and] see you soon. 
7. I am glad that you have received your money. 8. He is 
afraid that we will arrive before he finishes his work. 9. He 
is afraid to start to-day on account of the bad weather. 
•10. I am hungry; I must eat something. 11. You must 
send me a letter every week. 12. It is possible that he has 
arrived. 13. It is impossible to finish this work to-day. 
14. We must warn them at once. 15. It is important that 
everything be ready. 16. He told me to get him a news- 
paper. 17. The doctor gives orders that she should avoid 
too much work. 18. I should like to speak to you before 
you finish that. 19. It is good to take a walk before eating. 
20. He does this so as to deceive nobody. 21. I want you 
to do this work in such a way that everybody will be satis- 
fied. 22. He went away without finishing his work. 23. He 
has- been here three days without my seeing him. 24. It is 
necessary that you be here when I arrive. 



SUMMARY OF RULES AND SYNTAX 

1. Some or any+a. noun = da + definite article. 

2. Some must be expressed before any noun denoting an 
indefinite quantity. 

3. Some or any with a noun = da alone: 

a. when noun is direct object of a negative verb. 

b. when noun is preceded by an adjective. 

c. after any expression of quantity. 

4. The must be used : 

a. before any noun used to denote all of a class. 

b. before an abstract noun. 

c. before a proper noun modified by an adjective. 

d. before the name of a country, continent, province, 

mountain, square, or street. 

e. before the name of a language. 

/. before the names of days, unless next or last is 
meant. 

5. Most adjectives follow the noun in French. 

6. The following adjectives precede the noun: 

a. Possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, nu- 

meral. 

b. bo grd 5cen bo 
5oli gro vJ0 move 
vile pati nuvo 

7. Conjunctive object pronouns are used only as direct 
or indirect objects of a verb expressed. 

63 



64 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

8. Conjunctive object pronouns stand directly before the 
verb that governs them; in compound tenses before the 
auxiliary. But they follow an affirmative imperative, in 
which case ma and ta become mwa and twa. 

9. If there are two of different persons, the third person 
stands nearest the verb (no matter which side of the verb 
they are on). If both are third person, the direct precedes 
the indirect. 

10. When the direct object is ma, ta, sa, nu, or vu, any 
indirect object = a+a disjunctive after the verb. 

11. After ale, vaniir, kuriir the preposition /o = a+a dis- 
junctive. 

12. Disjunctive pronouns are used: 

a. after prepositions. 

b. as predicate after eitr. 

c. with conjunctive for emphasis. 

d. when subject or object is compound. 

e. whenever the pronoun is not connected to a verb. 
/. when subject is separated from verb by any word 

but na or a conjunctive object pronoun. 
g. with me:m to form intensives. 

13. Possessive pronoun after verb to &e = a+disjunctive. 

14. Possessive adjective is replaced by definite article and 
a dative pronoun when modifying a noun denoting part of 
body or clothing. 

15. A demonstrative pronoun is called definite when it 
refers to some noun previously mentioned, salqi and its 
forms are always definite, except when antecedents of a 
relative. 

16. The forms of salqi must always be followed by: 



SUMMARY OF RULES AND SYNTAX 



65 



a. da 

b. relative pronoun 

c. si or la 



(only one of these can be used 
at a time). 



17. A demonstrative pronoun is indefinite when not refer- 
ring to a noun already mentioned, sasi and sla are indefinite. 

18. This is 



That is 
These are 
Those are 



+a noun introducing something 



vwasi. 
vwala. 
s e. 
so so. 



19. 



+ 



noun 

pronoun 

superlative 



s e; so so. 



He is 
She is 
It is 
They are 

20. He who = sorqi ki. 
She who = se\ ki. 
They who=s0 ki. 

21. Some, any, of it, of them when pronoun = a. a has posi- 
tion of a conjunctive object pronoun and follows all others. 

22. To it and to them referring to things = i. i has position 
of a conjunctive object pronoun and follows all except a. 

23. (a) Relative pronouns: 

Persons Things 

a. nominative who = ki which =ki. 

b. possessive whose = do whose = do. 

c. object of verb whom = k9 which =ka. 

d. object of preposition whom=k.9 which = iakel. 

(6) English relative pronoun what really combines a de- 
monstrative pronoun with a relative, and stands for that 
which. Each part may be either nominative or objective. 
When the which is: 



66 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

a. subject of verb what = SQ ki. 

b. object of verb what = so ko. 

c. object of preposition what = so . . . kwa. 

When, however, the which is the object of the preposition 
of, we must nearly always translate what by so do. 

(c) do is generally used to translate not only whose but 
also of whom and of which. 

Ex.: The ball you were speaking of = the ball of which you were speak- 
ing = lo bal d5 vu parlje. After prepositions, however, do is always 
replaced by da with lokel: The children to whose father I have written = 
the children to the father of whom I have written = lez 5fa o pe:r dekel 3 e 
ekri. 

24. do=da+any relative pronoun: 

a. do immediately follows its antecedent. 

b. when noun modified by whose is subject it directly 

follows do. 

c. when noun modified by whose is object it directly 

follows the verb. 

25. (a) The interrogative pronouns used of persons are: 

a. subject of verb who = ki or ki e-s ki. 

6. predicate nominative who =ki or ki e-s ko. 

c. object of verb whom=k.i or ki e-s ko. 

d. object of preposition whom =ki. 

ki is used both in direct and in indirect discourse; ki e-s 
ki and ki e-s ko occur only in direct questions. After ki e-s 
ka there is no inversion of subject and verb. 

(6) The interrogative pronouns used of things are: 

a. subject of verb what =k e-s ki or so ki. 

b. predicate nominative what =ko or k e-s ko or so ko. 

c. object of verb what=ho or k e-s ko or so ko. 

d. object of preposition what =kwa. 



SUMMARY OF RULES AND SYNTAX 67 

kwa is used both in direct and in indirect discourse; 
k e-s ki, ka, and k e-s ka are used only in direct, and so ki, sa 
ka only in indirect questions. After k e-s ka there is no in- 
version of subject and verb. 

26. (a) What is+noun or pronoun = (direct discourse) 
k e-s ko. 

(b) What is+noun or pronoun = so ko s e ko (indirect ques- 
tions) . 

27. Cardinal numerals replace ordinals: 

a. in giving the date (except first) . 

b. with names of rulers. 

28. In after superlative ] 
Than plus a numeral !► = da. 
By after a comparative J 

29. (a) English perfect tense denoting act still going on = 
present tense with dapuji. 

(b) English pluperfect tense denoting act still going on 
when another act intervened = imperfect with dapiji„ 

30. How long+perfect tense =dapui ka+present. 
How long+ pluperfect tense = dapqi ka+imperfect. 

31. After when and as soon as denoting future time use 
future tense. 

32. Use perfect tense for all single past acts. 

33. Use imperfect tense to translate was doing, used to do. 

34. The following verbs are generally used in imperfect 
when English uses past: 

a. avwair, e:tr. 

b. verbs denoting emotion or mental activity. 



68 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

35. Conditional sentences: 

a. when the conclusion is present or future use 

present in zf-clause. 

b. when the conclusion is conditional use imperfect 

in zj-clause. 

c. when the conclusion is compound tense apply 

these rules to auxiliary. . 

36. Past participles: 

a. with auxiliary e:tr participle agrees with subject. 

b. with auxiliary avwair participle agrees only with 

a preceding direct object. 

c. reflexive verbs are treated as if avwair were the 

auxiliary. 

37. The following verbs use eitr to form compound tenses: 

ale, arive, davoniir, atre, muri:r, neitr, desthdr, mote, parti:r, 
reste, rovoniir, sorti:r, voni:r, tobe. 

38. Never use imperfect of passive voice; substitute: 

a. 5+active 



, (if agent is not mentioned), 
o. reflexive J 

c. tense of passive that would be used in active. 

39. To or m+names of cities = a. 

40. To Aaye+noun+infinitive=avwair+noun+a+infinitive 

if infinitive can be made passive. 
To /iaye+noun+innnitive = avwair+noun+d9+infini- 
tive if infinitive can not be made passive. 

41. It w+adjective+infinitive=il e+adjective+da+infini- 

tive if infinitive is real subject. 
It 2S+adjective + infinitive = s e + adj ec tive +a+ infini- 
tive if it is real subject. 



SUMMARY OF RULES AND SYNTAX 69 

42. The following verbs take infinitive with no preposition: 

erne mjo, ale, kote, krwair, dezire, ekute, prefere, pretardr, 
ragarde, savwair, sable, espere, fe:r, lese, oze, puvwa:r, va- 
ni:r, vwa:r, vulwair, il fo, il vo mje, 

43. The following verbs take a+infinitive: 

ede, erne, s aplike, apra:dr, s ata:dr, kosatir, komase, deside, 
sa deside, aga3e, asepe, s abitqe, evite, sa metr, ranose, rey- 
si:r, tarde. 

44. The following verbs take da+infinitive: 

sese, komade, koseje, kreidr, defaidr, di:r, ekriir, eseje, evite, 
neglise, ublije, ordone, permetr, prometr, rafyze. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 

1. The boy is taller than the girl. 

2. He is as rich as his sister. 

3. She is the most beautiful woman in the city. 

4. Dogs are faithful. 

5. Iron is useful. 

6. Education is necessary. 

7. France is beautiful. 

8. General Foch is a Frenchman. 

9. Little Peter is here. 

10. He is an Englishman. 

11. He is a soldier. 

12. He is a very good soldier. 

13. Paris, the capital of France. 

14. He comes on Tuesdays. 

15. (Some) bread; (some) meat; (some) water. 

16. A few pens; (some) pens; a little bread. 

17. I haven't any bread. 

18. A bottle of wine. 

19. Enough bread; as much bread; a good deal of bread; 
how much bread?; less bread; little bread; so much bread; 
too much bread. 

20. Many men. 

21. Most cities. 

22. The bottle is filled with wine. 

23. We have only beer. 

24. These are not oranges. , 

25. Have you any bread? I have some. 

70 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 

1. la garso 8 ply gra ka la fi:j. 

2. il et osi ri$ ka sa soeir. 

3. s e la ply bel fam da la vil. 

4. le $J8 so fidel. 

5. la feir et ytil. 

6. 1 edykasjo e neseseir. 

7. la frais 8 bel. 

8. la 3eneral fo§ e frase. 

9. la pati pjeir et isi. 

10. il et agle. 

11. il e solda. 

12. il et de tre bo solda. 

13. pari, kapital da la frais. 

14. il vje le mardi. 

15. dy pe; da la vjaid; da 1 o. 

16. kelka plym; de plym; de p0 da pe. 

17. 3a ne pa da pe. 

18. yn buteij da ve. 

19. ase da pe; ota da pe; boku da pe; kobje da pe?; mwe da 
pe; p0 da pe; ta da pe; tro da pe. 

20. bje dez om. 

21. la plypair de vil. 

22. la buteij e rapli da ve. 

23. nu n avo ka da la bjeir. 

24. sa na so pa dez ora:3. 

25. ave-vu dy pe? 3 an e. 

71 



72 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

26. Have you a good deal? 

27. He has three. I haven't any. 

28. There isn't any. 

29. He loves us. 

30. I gave him a book. 

31. Will he read it? 

32. He doesn't like it. 

33. Look at him. 

34. Look at me. 

35. Don't look at them. 

36. Here I am. There he is, 

37. Didn't he say so? 

38. He gives it to me. 

39. Give it to me. 

40. Don't give it to us. 

41. He takes it to them. 

42. Take it to them. 

43. Don't take them to him. 

44. Does he give it to him? 

45. I give him some. 

46. Do you give them any? 

47. Did you give him any? 

48. Don't give him any. 

49. Give them some. 

50. Give me some. 

51. I reply to it. Reply to it. 

52. For me. With them. 

53. It's he. It's she. It's they. 

54. He is more active than they (are). 

55. He and I have been playing. 

56. He and she have been talking. 

57. Henry and I have been playing. 

58. I gave them to her and to him. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 73 



26. an ave-vu boku? 

27. il an a trwa. 59 n an e pa. 

28. il n j ana pa. 

29. il nuz em. 

30. 30 lui e done de liivr. 

31. la lira-t-il? 

32. il na 1 em pa. 

33. ragarde-la. 

34. ragarde-mwa. 

35. na le ragarde pa. 

36. ma vwasi. la vwala. 

37. na 1 a-t-il pa di? 

38. il ma la don. 

39. done-la mwa. 

40. na nu la done pa. 

41. il la loeir port. 

42. porte-la loeir. 

43. na le lui porte pa. 

44. la rqi don-t-il? 

45. 3a lui a don. 

46. loeir a done-vu? 

47. lqi an ave-vu done? 

48. na lqi a done pa. 

49. done loeir a. 

50. done m a. 

51. 3 i repo. repodez-i. 

52. pur mwa. avek 0. 

53. s e kn\ s et el. sa so 0. 

54. il e plyz aktif k 0. 

55. lui e mwa, nuz avo 3we. 

56. rqi e el parle. 

57. Qri e mwa, nuz avo 3we. 

58. 3a lez e done a el e a rqi. 



74 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

59. 7 don't like it. 

60. He likes it very well. 

61. He will introduce me to him. 

62. He will introduce himself to her. 

63. I saw them myself. 

64. He closes his eyes. 

65. She closed her hand. 

66. He lost his leg. 

67. You will cut your finger. 

68. He cut his foot. 

69. We pressed his hand. 

70. The book is mine. 

71. He is a friend of mine. 

72. My book and John's. 

73. He who is rich is happy. 

74. This house and that one. 

75. Give me this, not that. 

76. The man who is speaking. 

77. The man whom you see. 

78. The man to whom I was speaking. 

79. The man of whom I was talking. 

80. The table on which you will find some books, 

81. That's what is bothering me. 

82. That's what I want. 

83. That's what I was talking about. 

84. Here's what I do it with. 

85. Who came yesterday? 

86. Whom did you see? 

87. Whom were you talking to? 

88. What is troubling you? 

89. What do you wish? 

90. What do you write with? 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 75 



59. mwa, 3a na 1 em pa. 

60. lqi 1 em bje. 

61. il ma prezatra a lqi. 

62. il sa prezatra a el. 

63. 3a lez e vy mwa-meim. 

64. il ferm lez j0. 

65. el a ferme la me. 

66. il a perdy la 3&:b. 

67. vuvu kupre la dwa. 

68. il s e kupe la pje. 

69. nu lqi avo sere la me. 

70. la liivr et a mwa. 

71. il et oe da mez ami. 

72. mo liivr e salia' da 5a. 

73. salui ki e ri$ et oer0. 

74. set mezo-si e sel-la. 

75. done-mwa sasi, pa sla. 

76. 1 om ki pari. 

77. 1 om ka vu vwaje. 

78. 1 om a ki 3a parle. 

79. 1 om do 3a parle. 

80. la tabl syr lakel vu truvre de liivrc 

81. s e sa ki ma turmait. 

82. s e sa ka 3a deziir. 

83. vwala sa do 3a parle. 

84. vwala avek kwa 5a la fe. 

85. ki e vany jeir? 

86. ki ave-vu vy? 

87. a ki parlje-vu? 

88. k e-s ki vu turmait? 

89. ka dezire-vu? 

90. avek kwa ekrive-vu? 



76 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

91. Which (one) is yours? 

92. Whose book is this? 

93. What is that building? 

94. I don't know what it is. 

95. What is electricity? 

96. We don't know what it is. 

97. This is my brother. 

98. These are my cousins. 

99. He who (the one who) came with you< 

100. They who (the ones who) come late. 

101. He is an Englishman. 

102. They are Germans. 

103. The first of June. The 22d of June. 

104. Louis XIV. Henry IV. 

105. He has more than a hundred horses. 

106. He is taller by a foot. 

107. It's the finest house in the town. 

108. It is easy to speak English. 

109. It is very easy to do. 

110. We have three letters to write. 

111. Have you the courage to do that? 

112. Will you come with me? 

113. We used to play together. 

114. Who is going to play now? 

115. He is willing to go with us. 

116. They are not willing to do it. 

117. Do you know how to (can you) read? 

118. Do you know that he is here? 

119. Do you know that man? 

120. Do you know to-day's lesson? 

121. He has just read it. 

122. They had just gone out. 

123. There is nothing in it, on it, under it, 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 77 



91. lakel et a vu? 

92. a ki e sa liivr? 

93. kel e sa batimd-la? 

94. 39 na se pa s ka s 8. 

95. k e-s ka 1 elektrisite? 

96. 5 na se pa s kg s e. 

97. vwasi mo freir. 

98. vwasi me kuze. 

99. salqi ki e vgny avek vu. 

100. s0 ki vjen ta:r. 

101. s et den agle. 

102. S9 so dez alma. 

103. b pramje 5ije. la vet-d0 5qe. 

104. lwi katorz. Sri katr. 

105. il a ply do sa $vo. 

106. il e ply gra d de pje, 

107. s e la ply bel mezo do la vil. 

108. il e fasil da parle agle. 

109. s e tre fasil a feir. 

110. nuz avo trwa letr a ekriir. 

111. ave-vu la kura:3 da feir sla? 

112. \oile-vu vaniir avek mwa? 

113. nu 511J0 asaibl. 

114. ki va 3we metna? 

115. il v0 bje ale avek nu. 

116. il na voel pa la feir. 

117. save-vu liir? 

118. save-vu k il et isi? 

119. konese-vu set om? 

120. save-vu la loso d osurdqi? 

121. il vje do lo liir. 

122. il vone do sortiir. 

123. U n j a rje dada, dasy, dasu. 



78 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

124. They will go to her to-morrow. 

125. We are thinking of them. 

126. Come to us. 

127. Without working. (By) working. 

128. He lets himself be heard often. 

129. I saw him killed. 

130. He does that in order to learn better. 

131. We are working hard. 

132. We don't work Sundays. 

133. He has been in this country three months. 

134. He did it yesterday. 

135. He has done it twice to-day. 

136. He was singing when I entered. 

137. I had been there two hours when he came. 

138. I shall now eat something. 

139. If he comes I shall see him. 

140. If he should come I should see him. 

141. If you had told me I should have believed you. 

142. Tell him, when you see him, that I am coming. 

143. We (people) ought always to tell the truth. 

144. He ought not to go there. 

145. He ought not to have gone there. 

146. I am to dine with him to-morrow. 

147. I was to dine with him yesterday. 

148. You have eaten nothing to-day; you must be hungry. 

149. You studied all night; you must have been very 
tired this morning. 

150. I have him read. 

151. I have him read a book. 

152. I have my father read a book. 

153. I have my father read it. 

154. I have him read it. 

155. Have him read. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 79 

124. il vo a el dome. 

125. nu paso a 0. 

126. vane a nu. 

127. sa travaje. a travaja. 

128. il so les ataidr suva. 

129. 30 1 e vy tqe. 

130. il fe sla pur apraidr mj0. 

131. nu travajo bje. 

132. nu no travajo pa le dimai§. 

133. il e da so pei dopuj. trwa mwa. 

134. il 1 a fe jeir. 

135. il 1 a f e d0 fwa 03urdt[i. 

136. il $ate ka 30 sqiz atre. 

137. 3 ete la dopui d0z oeir kat il e vony. 

138. 30 ve ma3e kelko $oz metna. 

139. s il vje, 30 lo vere. 

140. s il vjedre 30 lo vere. 

141. si vu mo 1 avje di 30 vuz ore kry. 

142. dit lui, ka vu lo vere, ko 30 vje. 

143. nu dovo tu3ur diir la verite. 

144. il no dovre paz i ale. 

145. il n ore pa dy i ale. 

146. 30 dwa dine avek lqi dome. 

147. 30 dove dine avek lui je:r. 

148. vu n ave rje ma3e 03urdqi; vu dove avwair fe. 

149. vuz ave etydje tut la nqi; vuz ave dy e:tr bje fatige 
so mate. 

150. 30 lo fe liir. 

151. 30 lui fe liir de liivr. 

152. 30 fe liir de liivr a mo pe:r. 

153. 30 lo fe liir a mo peir. 

154. 30 lo ha' fe liir. 

155. fet-lo liir. 



80 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

156. Have him read it. 

157. Have him sit down. 

158. He has to go to Boston. 

159. He has to go to Boston. 

160. My father has to go to Boston. 

{I must hurry. 
We must hurry. 
You must hurry. 
f He must hurry. 
\ They must hurry. 

163. I need a book. 

164. My father needs a book. 

165. Will you come with me? 

166. I am willing to go with you. 

167. He is not willing to come. 

168. Bring me a book. 

169. Bring him with you. 

170. Take this pen. 

171. Take this book to him. 

172. Take him with you. 

173. Leave it on the table. 

174. Leave this town. 

175. He has left. 

176. He went away. 

177. They came out of the town. 

178. Look at the man. 

179. Look for my book. 

180. Ask him for a book. 

181. Pay him for the book. 

182. Wait for your brother. 

183. Listen to the music. 

184. He obeys him. 

185. He pays him two francs. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 81 



156. fet-lo lip liir. 

157. fet-lo aswair. 

158. il lip fo ale a Boston. 

159. il fo k il a:j a Boston. 

160. il fo ko mo peir aij a Boston. 

r il fo ma depe$e. 

161. < il fo nu depe$e. 
i, il fo vu depe$e. 

f il fo k il so depe$. 
\ il fo k il so depe$. 

163. il mo fo oe liivr. 

164. il fo oe liivr a mo peir. 

165. vule-vu voniir avek mwa? 

166. 30 v0 bje ale avek vu. 

167. il no v0 pa voniir. 

168. aporte-mwa oe liivr. 

169. amne-lo avek vu. 

170. prone set plym. 

171. porte lqi so liivr. 

172. amne-lo avek vu. 

173. lese-lo syr la tabl. 

174. kite set vil. (parte do set vil.) 

175. il e parti. 

176. il s an et ale. 

177. il so sorti do la vil. 

178. rogarde 1 om. 

179. §er$e mo liivr. 

180. domade luj ce liivr. 

181. peje lqi lo liivr. 

182. atade votr freir. 

183. ekute la myzik. 

184. il lqi obei. 

185. il lui pe d0 fra. 



82 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

186. He pardons them. 

187. He told it to him. 

188. He forbids them to go. 

189. He answers her. 

190. You have a grudge against them. 

191. That pleases her. 

192. You have hurt him. 

193. He noticed it. 

194. He remembers you. 

195. He uses pencils. 

196. He approaches the house. 

197. He goes without a hat. 

198. They make fun of him. 

199. He enjoys it. 

200. They profit by it. 

201. He is surprised at you. 

202. He lacks courage. 

203. He doubts it. 

/ Whose book is that? 
\ Whose is that book? 

205. Whose is it? 

206. Tell me whose that is. 

207. Whose book have you? 

208. Whose horse did you give the hay to? 

209. Tell me whose book this is. 

210. Whose hat did you take? 

211. Whose son have you adopted? 

212. I am blamed by my friend. 

213. The house was finished in 1912. 

214. They finished the house in 1912. 

215. Killing is a crime. 

216. It's impossible to speak. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 83 

186. il loeir pardon. 

187. il la lip a di. 

188. il loeir defa d ale. 

189. il lqi repo. 

190. vu loeir a vule. 

191. sla lqi pie. 

192. vu lqi ave fe mal. 

193. il s an et apersy. 

194. il sa suvje da vu. 

195. il sa seir da krejo. 

196. il s apro$ da la mezo. 

197. il sa pas da $apo. 

198. il sa mok da lqi. 

199. il a 3m. 

200. ilz a profit. 

201. il s eton da vu. 

202. il mak da kura:5. 

203. il a dut. 

204. a ki e sa liivr? 

205. a ki e-s? 

206. dit-mwa a ki 8 sla. 

207. a ki e la liivr ka vuz ave? 

208. a ki e la $val okel vuz ave done la fwe? 

209. dit-mwa a ki 8 sa liivr. 

210. a ki e la $apo ka vuz ave pri? 

211. da ki ave-vuz adopte la fis? 

212. 3a sqi blame par mon ami. 

213. la mezo a ete fini a 1912. 

214. o a fini la mezo a 1912. 

215. tqe et ce krim. 

216. il et eposibl da parle. 



84 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

217. Go and see. 

218. I saw him coming. 

219. I wish to see. 

220. He thinks he has seen that. 

221. I assert that I have seen that. 

222. That serves to prove that he went. 

223. He is ready to start. 

224. He is busy (at) writing. 

225. I have trouble in doing that. 

226. I am having a good time (in) looking on. 

227. It is to be hoped. 

228. It's a thing to be done. 

229. That is impossible to do. 

230. It's impossible to do that. 

231. I am much astonished at hearing that. 

232. I thank you for having sent me a letter. 

233. He prides himself on being noble. 

234. He began by flattering me and he ended by insult- 
ing me. 

235. He finally killed the bear. 

236. He works to earn a living. 

237. He came for the purpose of seeing you. 
But: He came to see you. 

238. They punished him for having disobeyed. 

239. After lighting his pipe he went out. 

240. It's an astonishing thing. 

241. A thing astonishing everybody. 

242. While taking a walk this morning I met my friend. 

243. I saw him knocking at the door. 

244. Hasn't he arrived? 

245. Has he arrived? 

246. When did he arrive? 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 85 

217. ale vwair. 

218. 3a 1 e vy vaniir. 

219. 39 v0 vwair. 

220. il krwa avwair vy sla. 

221. 3 afirm avwair vy sla. 

222. sla seir a pruve k il et ale. 

223. il e pret a partiir. 

224. il s okyp a ekriir. 

225. 3 e da la pen a feir sla. 

226. 39 m amyz a ragarde. 

227. set a espere. 

228. set yn $oiz a feir. 

229. sla et eposibl a feir. 

230. il et eposibl da feir sla. . 

231. 39 m eton boku d ataidr sla. 

232. 33 vu ramersi da m avwair avwaje yn letr. 

233. il sa pik d eitr nobl. 

234. il a komase par ma flate e il a fini par m esylte. 

235. il a fini par tqe 1 urs. 

236. il travaj pur gajie la vi. 

237. il e vany pur vu vwair. 
But: il e vany vu vwair. 

238. 5 1 a pyni pur avwair dezobei. 

239. aprez avwair alyme sa pip il e sorti. 

240. s et yn §oiz etonait. 

241. yn $oiz etona tu 1 moid. 

242. a ma promna sa mate 3 e rakotre mon ami. 

243. 3a 1 e vy frape a la port. 



244. e-s k il n e paz arive? 

245. et-il arive? 

246. ka et-il arive? 



86 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

247. Who is coming? 

248. What books are the best? 

249. Has your father arrived? 

250. He knows nothing. 

251. He has only one book. 

252. Only your brother knows that. 

253. He hasn't come yet. 

254. He met nobody. 

255. He saw them only twice. 

256. Nobody came to-day. 

257. No more soup, thank you. 

258. Who came? Nobody. 

259. He hopes not to see it. 

260. He hopes to see only his brother. 

261. He neither works nor plays. 

262. He can neither read nor write. 

263. Neither the father nor the mother speaks English. 

264. Shall I speak? 

265. Shall he do it? 

266. Should he write? 

267. No, he shouldn't do it. 

268. Will you come? 

269. You would do it for me, wouldn't you? 

270. He should have done it. 

271. Would you have done it for me? 

272. He must be there now. 

273. He must have been rich. 

274. That may be true. 

275. He can walk now. 

276. He might come. 

277. He could find it if he looked for it. 

278. He couldn't rise. 

279. He may have said it. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 87 

247. ki vje? 

248. kel liivr so le mejceir? 

249. votr peir et-il arive? 

250. il no se rje. 

251. il n a k ce liivr. 

252. soelma votr freir se sla. 

253. il n 8 paz akor vony. 

254. il n a rakotre person. 

255. il no lez a vy ka d0 fwa. 

256. person n e vony osurdui. 

257. ply d(a) sup, mersi. 

258. ki e vony? person. 

259. il espeir no pa lo vwair. 

260. il espeir no vwair ko so freir. 

261. il no travaj ni no 5U. 

262. il no se ni liir ni ekriir. 

263. ni lo peir ni la meir no pari ogle. 

264. dwa-3parle? 

265. dwat-il lo feir? 

266. dovret-il ekriir? 

267. no, il no dovre pa lo feir. 

268. vule-vu bje voniir? 

269. vu vudrije bje lo feir pur mwa, n e-s pa? 

270. il ore dy lo feir. 

271. e-s ko vuz orje bje vuly lo feir pur mwa? 

272. il dwat eitr la metna. 

273. il a dy eitr ri$. 

274. sola p0t eitr vre. 

275. il p0 mar^e metna. 

276. il pure voniir. 

277. il pure lo truve, s il lo $er$e. 

278. il no puve pa so love. 

279. il a py lo diir. 



88 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

280. He might have said it. 

281. He is going to France. 

282. He comes from France. 

283. He is going to the United States. 

284. He is in Canada. 

285. He has come back from Mexico. 

286. He is in Paris. 

287. He comes from London. 

Time 

288. What time is it? 

289. It's one o'clock; it's two o'clock. 

290. It's 12 o'clock (noon); it's 12 o'clock (midnight). 

291. It's half-past three. 

292. It's a quarter past four. 

293. At 23 minutes past five. 

294. At a quarter of six. 

295. Eight minutes of seven. 

296. About eight o'clock in the evening. 

297. What day of the month is it? 

298. To-day is the eighteenth. 

299. He has been here (for) a week. 

300. I start for London in two weeks. 

301. What kind of weather is it to-day? 

302. It is fine weather. 

303. It is bad weather. 

304. It is cold. 

305. It is warm. 

306. The sun is shining. 

307. It is raining. 

308. It is snowing. 



ILLUSTRATIVE SENTENCES 89 



280. il ore py la diir. 

281. il va a frais. 

282. il vje da Mis. 

283. il va oz etaz-yni. 

284. il et o kanada. 

285. il e r(a)vany dy meksik. 

286. il et a pari. 

287. il vje da loidr. 

Time 

288. kel ceir et-il? 

289. il et yn oeir; il e d0z ceir. 

290. il e midi; il e minqi. 

291. il e trwaz ceir e d(a)mi. 

292. il e katr oeir (e) kar. 

293. a sek ceir vet-trwa (minyt). 

294. a siz oeir mwez (ce) kar. 

295. set oeir mwe qi(t) (minyt). 

296. ver qit oeir dy swar. 

297. kel 3Uir (dy mwa) som-nu? 

( nu som la diz-qit. 

\ s et 03urdqi la diz-qit. 

299. il et isi dapqi qi 3Uir. 

300. 3a pair pur loidr da keiz 3Uir. 

301. kel ta fet-il 03urdqi? 

302. il fe bo (ta). 

303. il fe move ta. 

304. il fe frwa. 

305. il fe So. 

306. il fe dy solej. 

307. il pl0. 

308. il nei3. 



SPECIAL VOCABULARY 
French Renderings of to be 

1. When referring to persons or animals French replaces 
to 6e+an adjective by avwair +a noun in the following cases: 

to be cold = av wa:r frwa to be right = ay wsur rez5 

to be warm = avwair §o to be wrong = avwair toir 

to be hungry = avwair fe to be afraid = avwair pocir 

to be thirsty = avwair swaf to be in need = avwair bozwe 

to be sleepy = avwair someij to be ashamed = avwair 5:t 

2. When referring to the weather French uses fe:r+a noun: 

it is cold = il f 8 frwa it is windy = il f e dy va 

it is warm = il f 8 $o it is fine weather = il f e bo ta 

it is sunny = il fe dy soleij it is bad weather = il fe move ta 

Note. Very with the above phrases is generally translated by bje. 
Ex.: It is very warm = i\ fe bje $o. 

3. When referring to an inanimate object the construction 

is like the English : 

The water is warm = \ o e §o:d. 



Days of the Week 



Monday, loedi. 
Tuesday, mardi. 
Wednesday, merkrsdi. 
Thursday, 3odi. 

January, 3&vje. 
February, fevrie. 
March, mars. 
April, avril. 
May, me. 
June, 3qe. 



Months 



Friday, vadradi. 
Saturday, samdi. 
Sunday, dimai$. 



July, 3yje. 
August, u. 
September, septaibr. 
October, oktobr. 
November, novaibr. 
December, desaibr. 



90 



SPECIAL VOCABULARY 



91 



Human Body 



head, la te:t. 
hair, le §(a)v0. 
forehead, la fro. 
eye, 1 ce:j (m.). 
eyes, lez J0. 
nose, la ne. 
mouth, la bu§. 
Zip, la le:vr. 
chin, la mato. 
c/ieefc, la 311. 
tooth, la da. 
tongue, la la:g. 
ear, 1 oreij (/.). 



necA;, la ku. 
shoulder, 1 epo:l (/.). 
arm, la bra. 
wrist, la pwajie. 
/land, la me. 
finger, la dwa. 
thumb, la pus. 
cAes£, la pwatrin. 
heart, la kce:r. 
stomach, 1 estoma (m.). 
Zeo, la 3&:b. 
knee, la 3(a)nu. 
/oo^, la pje. 



The House 



roof, la twa. 
chimney, la $(a)mine. 
wall, la myr. 
window, la f (a)ne:tr. 
door, la port. 
ceiling, la plafo. 
yZoor, la pla$e. 
room, la pjes. 
bedroom, la §a:br. 
parlor, la salo. 
dining-room, la sal a ma3e. 
kitchen, la kinzin. 
library, la bibliotek. 
book-case, la bibliotek. 
cellar, la ka:v. 



fireplace, la $ (a) mine. 
staircase, 1 eskalje (m.). 
furniture, la mce:bl. 
/a6Ze, la tabl. 
c/iair, la $e:z. 
desfc, la byro. 
couch, la kanape. 
carpet, la tapi. 
armchair, la fotce:j. 
cZoc/c, la padyl. 
picture, la tablo. 
mirror, la mirwa:r. 
6ed, la li. 
dressing-table, la komod. 



Tableware and Meals 



pZate, 1 as jet (/.), 
fcm/e, la kuto. 
/or/c, la fur$et. 
spoon, la kyjeir. 



rai'Zfc, la le. 
chocolate, la §okola. 
sugar, la sykr. 
cream, la kre:m. 



92 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



cup, la ta:s. 
glass, la ve:r. 
bottle, la bute:j. 
soup, la pota:3. 
fish, la pwaso. 
raea£, la vja:d. 
vegetable, lo legym. 
salad, la salad. 
water, 1 o (/.)• 
wine, la ve. 
coffee, la kafe. 
tea, la te. 



hair-brush, la bros a §V0. 
cora6, la peji. 
/ia£, la §apo. 
cap, la kasket. 
shirt, la §mi:z. 
collar, la fo kol. 
necktie, la kravat. 
footwear, le $osyr. 
s/ioe, la sulje. 
trousers, la patal5. 
stocking, la §oset. 



ty/i^e, bla. 
Wwe, bl0. 
brown, brce. 
yellow, 30:11. 
Wacfc, nwair. 



butter, la bceir. 
bread, la pe. 
cheese, la froma:3. 
cracker, la biskqi. 
dessert, la dese:r. 
breakfast, la pti de30ne. 
lunch, la de30ne. 
dinner, la dine. 
supper, la supe. 
tablecloth, la nap. 
napkin, la servjet. 



Clothes 



vestf, la 3ile. 
coa£, 1 abi (m.). 
c?^, la ma$et. 
overcoat, la pardasy. 
smiI, la kople. 
handkerchief, la mu$wa:r. 
pocket, la po$. 
oZove, la ga. 

tooth-brush, la bros a da. 
dress, la rob. 



Colors 



pinA;, ro:z. 
red, ru:3. 
oreen, ve:r. 
ora?/, gri. 
wioZef, vjole. 



2/ie rfai/, la 3u:r. 
night, la nui. 
morning, la mate, 
noon, midi. 



Time 



day after to-morrow, apre-d(a)me. 
yesterday, je:r. 

day before yesterday, ava-je:r. 
last night, je:r swair. 



SPECIAL VOCABULARY 93 

the afternoon, I apre-midi (ra.). last week, la s(a)men dernjeir. 

evening, la swair. last month, la mwa dernje. 

hour, 1 oeir (/.)• last year, 1 ane dernjeir. 

minute, la minyt. AaZ/ an hour, yn dami-oe:r. 

second, la sagaid. an Aonr and a half, yn oe:r e d(a)mi. 

week, la s(a)men. ^e season, la sezo. 

month, la mwa. in spring, o preta. 

?/ear, 1 a (m.); 1 ane (/.). in summer, an ete. 

to-day, 03iirdqi. in auntumn, an oton. 

to-morrow, dame. in winter, an iveir. 



Adverbs 

ajaeir: il fo $er$e ajoe:r= F<m mwstf look elsewhere. 

alor: 3 ave abr diz a=I was then ten years old. 

pui: d abor il a 3we, piri il a $ate=Ft'rs£ Ae played and 

then /ie sang. 

asqit: =same as pui. 

dok: vu koprone dok, so kg 39 v0 di:r = Fow under- 

stand, then, wAa£ 7 mean. 

a p0 pre: il a a p0 pre vet a= He is about twenty years 
old. 

akoir: vuz eit akoir isi?= You are still fore? 

il 1 a f e akoir = He did it again. 

afe: vu vwala 5fe= There you are at last. 

fisaibl: il so vony asaibl= They came together. 

bje: il 3U tre bje= He plays very well. 

bjeto: il 1 a bjeto fe= He soon did it. 

dobonceir: il e vony do bon ce:r= He came early. 

de3a: nu 1 avo de3a vy = We have already seen it. 

esi: purkwa parl-t-il esi? = Why does he speak thus? 

isi: il et isi = He is here. 

ka: ka et-vu vony? = When did you come? 



94 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



kelkafwa: il vje kelkofwa = He comes sometimes. 

kom: kom vuz e:t bo!=How good you are! 

koma: koma fe:t-vu sa?=How do you do that? 

la: il so la metna = They are there now. 

lota: il a ekri lota= He wrote a long time. 

lwe: s e lwe d isi = It's far from here. 

me:m: meim lez aia travaj =Even the children work. 

mgtna: metna s e fmi=Now it's finished. 

no: i ale-vu? n5 = Are you going? No. 

osi: vu fe:t sola osi? = You do that also? 

osito : osito il a komase a plcevwa :r = Immediately it began 

to rain. 
partu: sola ariv partu= That happens everywhere. 
p0t-e:tr: s e vre, p0t-eitr = It's true, perhaps, 
presko: il e presko malad= He is almost sick. 
purkwa: purkwa fe:t-vu sa?=Why do you do that? 
sopada: sopcida vu n i ale pa = Nevertheless you don't go. 

sopada il s e mi a ploevwa:r = Meanwhile it began to 
rain. 
suva: sola ariv suva= That often happens. 

syrtu: syrtu an ivc:r= Especially in winter. 
ta:r: il e ta:r = It is late. 

vuz e:t a rota:r= You are late, 
tu: il e tu ru:3= He is quite red. 

tutafe: s 8 tut a fe difera = 7^'s entirely different. 
tutaku: tut a ku il e tobe = Suddenly he fell. 
tut a 1 ce:r : tut a 1 oe:r il m an a parle = He spoke of it to me a. 
little while ago. 

tut a 1 oe:r vu lo vere= Presently you will see it. 
tut suit: 50 sui parti tut su_it = 7 left at once. 
tu3u:r: il ekri tu5u:r= He is always writing. 



SPECIAL VOCABULARY 95 

u : u et-il ? = Where is he f 

vit: ale vit =Go quickly. 

wi: wi= Yes. 

Prepositions 

apre: il e vany apre vu= He came after you. 

ava: il e vany ava siz ce:r = He came before six o'clock. 

dava: la tabl e dava mwa= The table is in front of me. 

avek: vuz ire avek lqi= You will go with him. 

a:tr(a): la tabl et aitra vu e mwa=77ie table is between 

you and me. 
da: il e da la mezo = He is in the house. 

a: il f 8 bo an ete = It's fine in summer. 

a: vu 1 ave a la me = You have it in your hand. 

dapui: il pari dapm" trwaz oeir= He has been talking since 

three o'clock. 
derjeir: la $e:z e derjeir la tabl=77ie chair is behind the 

table. 
kotra: la $eiz e kotra la myr= The chair is against the wall. 
malgre: il s vany malgre son ami- He came in spite of his 

friend. 
otur da: il 3U otur da vu= They play around you. 
par: il e pyni par so pe:r = He is punished by his father. 

parmi: il so parmi le mejce:r= They are among the best. 
pada: pada la koseir il a dormi= During the concert he 

slept. 
pre da : il e pre da la port = He is near the door. 
pur: il 1 a f e pur mwa= He did it for me. 

vuz an ave ase pur trwa 5u:r= You have enough for 

three days. 
il e parti pur la frais= He left for France. 



96 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

sa: vu puvez ale sa §apo = You can go without a hat. 

su: s e su la tabl = iY's under the table. 

syr: s e syr la tah\ = It's on the table. 

$e: il et ale $e lo tajoe:r= He went to the tailor's. 

ve:r: alo ve:r set mezo-la = Let , s go towards that house. 

nu som parti ve:r trwaz oe:r=We left about three 
o'clock. 
aveir: il n e pa 3yst aveir nu= He is not just to us. 



TEXTS 



la klais 



nu vwasi da la sal da klais. seb nymero ncef . el so truv 
o re-do-§ose. so n e paz yn tre graid sal, pars ko le klais no so 
pa graid. il j a keiz u vet eleiv daz yn klais. il j a de pla$e, 
de plafo, de myr, de f(o)neitr e yn port da set sal do klais. 
$ak eleiv et asi syr de ba avek oe p(o)ti pypitr a kote do lqi. 
sosi e pur metr so kaje dosy kat il v0 ekriir. so so de kaje 
do papje bla. lez eleiv ekriiv syr se kaje avek de krejo u de 
plym. lo meitr et asi syr yn $eiz. dova lqi so truv yn tabl. 
derjeir lqi e lo tablo nwair, il ekri la-dsy avek do la kre. 
lez elev ekriv osi syr lo tablo nwair kelkofwa. 

lez eleiv atr da la sal do klais e pren loer plas a silais. pqi 
lo meitr atr e va a sa §eiz. il s asje e apel lo no d den eleiv. 
il lqi domad lo 1J0 e la dat do sa nesais; il lqi domad son 013 e 
le no do so peir e do sa meir. il lqi domad s il a 3ame etydje 
yn laig etra3e;r. 1 eleiv repo a tut le kestjo dy meitr. pqi il 
s asje e lo meitr apel den otr elev e lqi poz le meim kestjo. tu 
lez eleiv dwaiv repoidr a se kestjo. asqit lo meitr komais a 
eksplike lez organ do la parol e le so do la laig fraseiz. il kopar 
le so frase avek le soz agle. il di oz elev k il j a boku do dife- 
mis aitr se d0 laig, no soelma da la grameir e>da lo vokabyleir, 
me osi da le so. il loer don dez egzersis do pronosjasjo. avek 
sez egzersis lo meitr pari de p0 oz elev a frase. an ekuta so 
ko lo meitr loer di lez elev esej do bje seziir le so do la laig. 
pada k il pari lo meitr fe boku do 3est pur eksplike so k il di. 
la plypar dez elev kopren se fraz. natyrelma lo meitr aplwa 
soelma de mo seple do la grameir fasil. il loer pari de $o:z da 
la sal do klais. pqi il loer domad s il kopren. ply tar il loer 

97 



98 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

pari de p0 da la frdis pars ko boku do sez elev sa:v tre p0 da 
so pei-la. vwasi so k il di do la frais. 



la frais 

la frais e la patri de frdse; s et de gra pei, me pa si gra ko 
1 amerik. a frais 5 pari frase. boku do 3a pari dgle osi avek 
lez agle e lez amerike. la frais et yn repyblik. lo $ef d yn 
repyblik et de prezida. lo prezida do la frdis abit pari, kar 
pari e la kapital do la frais. pari e sitqe syr de flceiv nome 
la sein. a frais il j a boku do vil ki so sitqe syr de floeiv. 
pari e la ply grdid, la ply bel e la ply ri$ do tut le vil do frais. 
lez abita do pari sot ap(o)le parizje. la md$ separ la frais 
de 1 agloteir. pada la grdid ger pari etc la plyz eportdt vil 
dy mod. dopqi la graid ger lez agle e lez amerike em le frase 
mj0 k ava la ger. 

vizit 

kdt v0 fer yn vizit a kelk ce so ra a son adres e son. 
de domestik uvro la port, pin" domdd si mosj0 e $e lqi e 
s il p0 rosovwair yn vizit. lo domestik port votr kart do 
vizit a so meitr e rovje bjeto vu diir si lo mosj0 e vizibl. si 
solqi-si v0 vu rosovwair lo domestik di "prone la pen d atre, 
mosj0." vcejez ataidr den esta; mosj0 bla et okype, me il sora 
a vu daz de moma. ka mosj0 bid e libr il dtr da lo salo e di 
"30 vu domdd pardo, mosj0, do vuz avwair fet atdidr. 3 e 
1 oncer do parle a mosj0 Jones? d kwa pui-3 vuz eitr ytil?" 

repo, par egzdipl, "3 e de servis a vu domdde. 30 vje a 
pari pur mo perfeksjone dd lo frdse parle. 30 dezir truve yn 
bon pdsjo frdseiz. 30 no v0 pa parle ce mo d dgle pddd mo 
se3ur isi." mosj0 — vu don plyzjceirz adres e vu repode 
"mersi boku, mosj0, 30 vez ale tut suit $ez yn do se dam." 



TEXTS 99 

il repo "il n j a pa da kwa, masj0. fet-mwa savwair koma 
vuz erne la pasjo da votr $wa." "o ravwair, masj0." "ora- 
vwair, masj0; a la pro$en fwa." 

bwaso e fyme 

le frase bwaiv suva me pa boku. lez amerike sabla krwair 
ka le frase sa griiz o mwe yn fwa par 3uir; me sasi n e pa 
vre. loer bwaso da preferais et de ve le3e. meim lez afa o 
kolei3 bwaiv dy ve yn u d0 fwa par 3u:r. o kafe (ki a frais 
et yn sort da klyb) le 3oen 3a sa reynis la swair pur koze, 
pur liir le 3urno, e pur 3we o kart u o bijair. natyrelma ilz 
5 swaf, pars kil pari boku e fym tu la ta. me o kafe 5 na 
bwa pa la ve. bwa la bjeir u p0t-e;tr oe mazagra (s et-a- 
diir dy kafe nwair servi daz oe veir). 5 bwa tre latma e il j 
a tre p0 d ivres. la bjeir p0t e:tr blod u bryn. 

le frase fym boku, syrtu de sigaret. me il fym osi la pip 
e de sigar. ava da fyme yn pip il fo la bure. la taba frase 
et ase nwair e fair, si 1 5 n a pa d alymet 5 damad a kelk de 
'orje-vu la bote, masj0, da ma done ce p0 da f0?' an a$et la 
taba $ez de mar$a da taba. lez alymet sa vad la osi. an 
atra daz ce vago da $me da fer na fym pa saz avwair da- 
made 4a fyme-vu 3en-t-el?' lez otra vwaja3ce:r repaid la 
ply suva 'me fet, masj0, fet dok.' 

la pti de30ne 

la pramje rapa dy 3uir s apel la pti de30ne. a sa rapa 
pra d0 u trwa ta:s da kafe u ce bol da $okola. pra la kafe 
avek dy sykr e dy le $0. sa s apel la kafe o le. la kafe nwair 
sa pra d ordineir apre la dine. pra osi a de30ne de pti pe 
avek dy bceir. si on a fe p0 praidr dez a la kok e dy 
mjel u da la marmalad. le krwasa frcise so delisj0. 



100 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

la de30ne 

sosi e lo promje ropa proproma di dy frase. il s apel osi 
'de30ne a la fur$et' e o lo prci aitr oiz c duiz oeir. si vu no 
ma3e pa $e vu il fo atre daz de de restore! a la kart u a pri 
fiks. da la plypair de restora lo scrvis e fe par de garso. 
ordinermd, 5 komaid de de30ne a pri fiks, kar s:e lo mejeeir 
mar$e. so ropa kosist a lo potai3, lo pwaso, lo roti, de legym, 
yn salad, lo deseir e de fromais. avek sla 5 bwa yn domi 
buteij do ve ordineir. pur termine 5 prd yn domi tais do 
kafe nwa:r e 1 5 fym kelko sigarct. a peja 1 adisjo 5 don de 
purbwair do sekcit scitim o garso si lo de30ne kut trwa fra a 
p0 pre. 

la koversasjo a frais 

on adme partu ko le frase so le mejoeir kozoeir dy moid, 
tut le nasjo ot eseje do lez imite da 1 ar do parle. il e vrema 
etona do vwair 1 abilte d yn otes frciseiz, ki diri3 la kover- 
sasjo do sy3e a sy3e, tu pareij a de organist ki modyl do kle 
a kle saz okyn eterypsjo perseptibl. 5 p0 diir ko le frase so 
presko le seel 3a dy moid kapabl do sutoniir yn koversasjo 
ki port syr de rje. suva s e scelma la grais dy stil ki fe la 
$arm. a frdis tu 1 moid se koze, meim le peizci do la ply bas 
klais. de frase se parle meim kat il n a pa d ide. 5 p0 
s amyze avek de frase meim kat il n a pa d espri. il vu ra- 
koit tu s(o) k il a fe, tu s k il a vy, wi, tu s k il sa. il vu do- 
mcid mil $oiz etim e ediskre; il et cer0 ta k il et a tre do pratike 
son organ do la parol. 

5 di k an orja, kat 5 n a rje a so diir, 5 fym le foeij do roiz 
asaibl. sa ra 1 atmosfer dus e pezibl. a frais, o kotreir, la 
parol n e pa syrtu lo mwaje do komynike dez ide. s e plyto 
de estryma do myzik dot 5 em a 3we kom de myzisje, 

vwasi purkwa la koversasjo a laig etra3eir e si eportait da 



TEXTS 101 

lez ekol fraseiz. tu 1 moid v0 savwair 3we da set estryma 
s il rakoitr kelk ce ki la pari da nesais. 

la kosjeir3 

da le graid vil da la frais le 3a damceir da da graid mezo 
divize an oe serte nobra d apartama avek yn atre e de eskalje 
komde. pre da la port d atre sa truv le pjes okype par la 
kosjeir3 e sa famij. sa foksjo e da savwair tu3Uir ki atr e ki 
sor da 1 edifis. kelk ce da sa famij e tu3Uir an opservasjo. 
se 3a sabl avwair den apeti esasjabl. n eport a kel oeir da la 
3urne s adres a de kosjeir3 p0t eitr serte k il ora la bu$ 
plen u ka kelk ce da sa famij sara a tre da mci5e. il j a tu3u:r 
la fyme da kelka $oiz k vje da kqiir. s et osi la davwair dy 
kosje;r3 da ramet a se lokateir le kart da vizit de etr&3e u 
de konesais. il fe mote osi a lcerz apartama le letr ka la fak- 
toeir apart $ak mate. 

la bur3wa 

lez amerike apel suvci ce frase da la ply bas klais a bur- 
3wa." sasi et yn fot serj0iz. sa mo v0 diir la meim $oiz ka 
la fraiz " middle-class " cin aglateir, s et-a-diir le 3a ki na so 
pa d ori3in aristokratik, kom, par egzaipl, lez avoka, le pro- 
fesoeir, lez om d afeir, etc. 

otel da la sirem leap gri ne, 
b ke:z 3yje, 19—. 
$eir masj0, 

nu som tus a^fite da votr pro 3c da vaniir nu ratruve o kap 
gri ne! 

3a vje d etervjue la patro da 1 otel. il m a di ka veir la 
vet-d0 vu purje avwair yn $5:br. 

3a vu damcidre da nu diir a kel gair vuz arivre e a kel oeir, 
afe ka nu vuz avwajio notr otomobil; sala na nu der&sra 



102 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

nylma, e otroma so no sre pa komod pur vu, kar le komyni- 
kasjo no so pa fasil. 

nu somz arivc jeir swair, e s e tu3u:r avek lo meim pleziir 
ko nu nu rotruvo syr set potit plais. 

malcer0izma, nu n i puro pa reste ota ko nu 1 orjo vuly, 
kar tut le §aibr so rotony a partiir dy trait 3yje, e il nu fodra 
partiir. 

a bjeto, §eir mosj0, lo grci pleziir do vu rovwair. tu voz 
ami isi so 3wen a mwa pur vuz avwaje no mejceir suv(o)ni:r. 

X. Y. 

1 afa prodig 

den om ave d0 fis. e lo ply 3cen di a so pe:r, a pe:r, don- 
mwa la pair dy bje ki m apartje." e lo peir leer a partase 
se bje. 

e p0 do 3Uir apre, lo ply 3cen fis, eja tu ramase, s an et 
ale deor daz ce pei elwajie; e la il a disipe so bje a viva da 
la deboi$. 

apre k il a y tu depose, il e vony yn graid famin da so pei- 
la, e il a komase a eitro da lo bozwe. 

alor il et ale e s e mi o servis d ce dez abita do so pei-la, ki 
1 a avwaje da se posesjo pur peitr le ko$o. 

e il dezire so rasazje de gus ko le ko$o ma 3c; e person no 
lqi a done. 

alor eta ratre a lqi-meim, il di: "kobje do 3urnalje $e mo 
peir dy pe an abodais, e mwa 30 mceir do fe!" 

30 mo levre e 30 m cm ire veir mo peir e 30 lqi dire: "mo 
peir, 3 e pe$e kotro lo sjel e dova twa; 30 no sqi ply din 
d eitr aple to fis; treit-mwa kom 63 do te 3urnalje." 

e il s e love, e il e vony veir so peir. e kom il ete fikoir lwe, 
so peir 1 a vy, e il a ete tu$e do kopasjo, e kura a lqi il s e 
3ote a so ku e 1 a beze. 



TEXTS 103 

me b fis lqi a di, "m5 peir, 3 e pe$e kotra b sjel e kotra 
twa; 30 na sqi ply diji d eitr aple to fis." 

e b peir a di a se servitoeir: "aporte la ply bel rob e mete- 
la Kri; e mete lqi den ano a la me e de sulje o pje; e amne- 
mwa b vo gra e tije Ice; e ma 30 e fazo bon §eir; kar mo fis 
ko vwasi ete moir, e il e rovony a la vi; il ete perdy, e il e 
rotruve." 

e ilz komase a feir bon $eir. 

la komet 

1 ane dernjeir, ava le feit dy karnaval, b brui a lurry a 
ynbuir ko b moid ale finiir. s e b doktceir zakarias piper, da 
kolmar, ki a repady d abor set nuvel dezagreabl; la lize da 
tu lez almana dy pei. 

zakarias pipeir ave kalkyle k yn komet desddre dy sjel b 
mardi gra, k el oret yn k0 do trat-se miljo do 1J0, forme d o 
bujait, lakel pasre syr la teir, da sorta ka le nei5 de ply o:t 
motan a sre fody, lez arbra dese$e, e le 3a kosyme. 

il e vre k cen onet sava do pari, nome popino, ekrive ply 
ta:r ka la komet arivre sa dut, me ka sa k0 sre kopoze da 
vapceir si le3eir ka person n an epruvre b mwedr ekovenja; 
ka $akde dave s okype trakilma da sez afeir, k il repode da tu. 
set asyrais a kalme boku da frejceir. 

malcer0zma nuz avo da notra vil yn vjeij fil0z da len, 
nome maria fek. s et yn patit vjeij tut bla:$, tut ride, ka le 
5<i vo kosylte da le sirkostais delikat da la vi. el abit yn 
$a:bra bas orne da mil ob3ez etrais e s abij d yn faso bizar, 
sa ki hri don yn graid otorite da b pei. 

maria fek, o lj0 d apruve 1 opinjo da 1 onet e bo masj0 
popino, s e deklare pur zakarias pipeir, diza: 

— kovertise-vu e prije; repate-vu da vo foit, kar la fe e 
pro$, la fe e pro$. 



104 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

5 vwaje o fo da sa $aibr yn imai3 da 1 afeir u le 3a desade 
par tie §(a) me same da roiz. oktie na sa dute dy 1J0 u set rut 
le mane; il mar$e a dasa, lez tie yn buteij a la me, lez oitr oe 
3abo, lez oitr tie $aple da sosis. tie mysizje, la §apo orne da 
rybti, lceir 3\ve da la klarinet pur egeje la vwajai3, e tu se 
maloer0 s apro$e avek ediferais da la $ (a) mine, plen da flam, 
u de3a le pramje d aitr tobe, le braz etady e le 3&ib a 1 eir. 

vu puve vuz inline le refleksjo da tut person rezonabl a 
vwaja set imai3- meim le 3a le ply verty0 5t tie serte nobro 
da pe$e syr la kosj&is, e person na p0 sa flate d ale tu drwa a 
paradi. s e purkwa la plypair sa dize: 

— nu na selebraro pa la karnaval; nu pasro la mardi gra 
a prijeir. 

3ame n ave vy rje da pareij. lez ofisje e le suzofisje do la 
kopajii a garnizo da notra vil etc daz tie veritablo dezespwair. 
tu le preparatif da la fe:t ale e:tr perdy purska le d(a)mwazel 
da la vil na vule plyz ataidra parle da la dais. 

— 3a na sui pa me$a, dize la ser3<i dy^em, me si 3a tane 
votr zakarias pipeir, 30 1 etraglare. 

avek tu sla, le ply dezole ete la sakreteir dy meir, la fis dy 
meitra da post, lo perseptoeir da taks, e mwa. \\i 3u:r ava, 
nuz etjoz ale a strazbuir pur nu prokyre de kostym. 3 ave 
$wazi pur mwa-meim tie kostym da pjero. la perseptoeir ave 
pri tie kostym da tyrk, brode syr tut le kutyir; la sakreteir, 
tien abi da poli$inel, forme da mil pjes rui3, vert e 30m, yn 
bos dava, yn bos derjeir; la fis dy meitra da post ale s abije a 
sovai3, avek de plym da peroke. 

e kat fe da pareij dep&is e k&t vwa ka tut e perdy par 
la foit d yn vjeij fam e d tie vj0 sava, n a-t-o pa sy3e da de- 
teste la 3a ir yme? 

me ka feir? 

la mardi gra ariv. sa 3uir-la la sjel ete pie da nei3. 
ragard a drwat, a goi$, a o, a ba, na vwa pa da komet. le 



TEXTS 105 

d(o)mwazel saibla tut kofyz. le garso kur $e loer kuzin, $e 
loer tait, da tut le mezo: 

— vu vwaje bje ko la vjej fek e fol; tut voz ide da komet 
n 5 pa d(o) bo sa. e-s ko le komet ariv an iveir? e-s k el no 
$wazis pa tusuir la bel sezo? alo, alo, il fo so deside. il et 
akoir ta. 

plyzjceir ropren afe kurai3. alor tu $(1:3; so rapel ko 
s e mardi gra; le d(o)mwazel so ait do tire dez armwair loer 
robz e leer p(o)ti sulje. 

a diz ceir, la graid sal do la meri ete plen do moid; nuz 
avjo gajie la bataij; paz yn domwazel do la vil no make, tu 
lez estryma de myzisje rezone, le oit foneitr brije da la nqi, 
le vals turne, le dais so syksede; le fiij e le garso ete daz yn 
5wa ineksprimabl; le vjeij grcimeir, bjen asiz kotro le myr, 
rije do bo kceir. deor la nei3 tobe tu3Uir. 

mon okl m ave done la kle do la mezo pur ratre ka 30 
vudre. sysk a d0z ceir dy mate, 50 n e pa make yn seel vals, 
me alor 3 avez ase e 50 sui sorti. yn fwa da la ry, 30 mo sqi 
miz a delibere pur savwair si 30 romotre u si 3 ire mo ku$e. 
3 ore bje vuly dcise akoir, me 3 ave si somej. afe 50 mo sqi 
deside a ale $e mwa e 30 mo sqi dirise veir la mezo. 

dopqi di minyt, 30 m avcise esi da la nqi e 3 ale turne o 
kwe do la foten ka, lova lez j0 par azair, 5 e vy derjeir lez 
arb yn lyn nr.5 kom dy f0, ki s avase da lez eir. el ete akoir 
elwajie de milje do 1J0, me el ale si vit ko daz ce kar d eeir el 
sore syr nu. set vy m a bulverse; 3 e sati me $v0 so drese e 
50 m(o) sqi di: 

— s e la komet. mosj0 pipeir ave rezo. e, sa savwair sa 
ko 30 foze, tut a ku 50 mo me a kuriir veir la meri, 50 moit 
1 eskalje ci raversa s0 ki desade e a krid d yn vwa teribl: 

— la komet, la komet! 

s ete lo ply bo moma do la dais, la myzik rezone, le garso 
frape dy pje a turna; 'le fiij ete rui3 kom de kokliko; me kat on 



106 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

a atady sa kri s elve da la sal: "la komet, la komet! " ce profo 
silais S9 fe, e le 3a, turna la teit, sa ragard tu pal e trabla. 

la ser3& dy$ein, s elasa veir la port, m aret e ma me la me 
syr la bu§ a diza: 

— e-s ka vuz e:t fu? vule-vu vu teir? 

me mwa, faza ce pa an arjeir, 3a na sese da repete d ce to 
da dezespwair: "la komet, la komet!" e on atade de3a le 
pa rule syr 1 eskalje kom la toneir, le 3a sa presipite deor, le 
fam 3emi:r, afe ce tymylt epuvatabl. a kelka sagoid la sal e 
dav(a)ny vid. dy$ein m a lese, e pa$e o bor da la f(a)neitr, 
3a ragarde, tut epqize, le 3a ki ramote la ry a kum. pqi 3a 
m a suiz ale, akable da dezespwair. 

da 1 eskalje ce gra noibra da 3a ete asi syr le mar$ e sa ko- 
fese aitr 0. 1 ce dize: "3 e fe 1 yzyr"; 1 oitr: "3 e vady a fo 
pwa"; 1 oitr: "3 e trope o 30." tus parle a la fwa, e da taz 
a ta il s eterope pur krie asaibl: 

— sejice:r, eje pitje da nu! 

3 an e rakony osi kelkaz-de ki sa frape la pwatrin kom de 
malcer0. me tut se $o:z na m eterese pa; 3 ave bje ase da 
pe^e pur mo propra ko:t. 

bjeto 3 e ra3we s0 ki kure ve:r la fotem. s e la k on citade 
de 3emisma; tus rakonese la komet e 3 e truve k el ave de3a 
grosi dy dubl. el 3ate dez etesel, e 1 opskyrite la faze pareitr 
rui3 kom dy sa. la ful, dabu da 1 o:br, na sese da repete d de 
to lamatabl: 

— s e fini, s e fini! nu som perdy! 
e le fam evoke tu le se dy paradi. 

da sa moma, mwa osi 3 e pase a ravy tu me pe$e dapqi 
1 013 da rezo e 3 e ete sezi d orceir. 3 ave frwa a pasa ka nuz 
alja e:tr bryle e kom la vj0 madja baltazar ete pre da mwa, 
3a 1 e abrase a lui diza : 

— baltazar, ka vu s(a)re o paradi, vuz etersedre pur 
mwa, n e-s pa? 



TEXTS 107 

alor il m a repody a saglota: 

— 38 sqi ce gra pe$ceir mwa-meim, mon ami; dapqi trait 
a 39 troip la komyn par amur da la pares, kar 39 na suj pa 
osi bwat0 ko la pais. 

— e mwa, lqi di3, 3a sqi la ply gra kriminel da la vil. 
e nu plcerjo tu le d0. 

afe nuz etjo la a 3(a)nu brska la ser3& dy$em et arive tut 
esufle. il ave d abor kury veir 1 arsanal, e, na vwaja rje la-ba, 
il ravane par yn oitr ry. 

— e bje! dit-il, purkwa krie-vu da set manjeir? 
piri apersava la komet : 

— mil toneir! s et-il ekrie, k e-s ka s e? 

— s e la fe dy moid, ser3a, di la madja. 

— la fe dy moid? 

— wi, la komet. 

alor il s e mi a 3yre, kria : 

— si 1 ad3yda ete isi 3a sore ka feir. 

pui, tut a ku, tiro, so sabr e 103a la myr, il di: 

— an aval k eport la da3e? il fo rakoneitr. 

tu 1 moid admire so kurai3, e mwa-meim, akurase par son 
odas, 3a ma sqi mi a la sqiivr. nu mar$jo latma, lez y0 graz 
uveir, ragarda la komet ki gradise viziblama, a faza de miljo 
da lj0 $ak sagoid. 

afe nu somz arive o kwe dy vj0 kuva. la komet sable 
mote; ply nuz avasjo, plyz el mote; nuz etjo forse da lave la 
teit da sorta ka finalma dy$em ragarde tu drwa a 1 eir. 
mwa, ve pa ply lwe, 3a vwaje la komet ce p0 da kote. 3a 
m(a) damade s il ete pryda d avase akoir lorska la ser3& m a 
arete : 

— mil toneir! dit-il a vwa bas, s e la reverbeir. 

— la reverbeir, di3 a m apro$a; es posibl? e 3 e ragarde 
tu syrpri. 

an efe, s ete la vj0 reverbeir dy kuvci. na 1 alym 3ame 



108 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

pars ka la kuva n e plyz abite dapqi 1798 e pars ka da notra 
vil tu 1 moid sa ku§ to. me la gard da nqi, prevwaja k il j 
ore sa swair la boku d ivroji, avet y 1 ide Jaritabl d i metr 
yn §adel pur ape$e le 3a do rule da la foise ki 10:3 la myr dy 
kuva; pqi il ete ale dormiir. 

nu distegjo tre bje le diferait parti da la latern. la me$ da 
la $adel ete grois kom la dwa; ka la vci sufle tie p0, la lymjeir 
s aktive e la me$ 3ate dez etesel; vwala sa ki la faze rasable 
a yn komet. 

ka 3 e vy sala, 3 e vuly krie pur averthr lez oitr, me la 
ser3& m a di: 

— vule-vu vu te:r? si 1 5 save ka nuz ava pri yn latern 
pur yn komet, sa mokre da nu. 

alor il a dekro$e la §e:n; la reverbeir e tobe, prodqiza do 
gra brqi. apre kwa, nu som parti ci kura. lez o:tr ot atady 
akoir l5ta; me kom la komet ete eteit, ilz fini osi par ra- 
praidr kura: 3 e sot ale sa ku$e. 

la ladame la brqi a kury ka s ete a koiz de prijeir da 
maria fek ka la komet s ete eteit. osi, dapqi sa 3Uir, la 
ragard kom yn seit plys ka 3ame. 

vwala kom le $oiz sa pas da notra ban pa tit vil da ynbuir. 

la vwajai3 da masj0 peri$5 

se:n de 

yn ga:r. ^me da fe:r da Ijo, a pari. — masje pcri$5, sa fam e sa fi:j arjet. 
(ilz atr da la drwat.) 

peri^o. par isi! . . . na nu kito pa! nu na pur jo ply nu 
ratruve ... u so no baga:3? . . . (ragarda a drwat; a la katonad.) 
a! tre bje! ki e-s ki a le paraprqi? . . . 

arjet. mwa, papa. 

p. e la sak da niri? . . . le mato? . . . 

madam p. le vwasi! 



TEXTS 109 



p. e mo panama? . . . il e reste da lo fjakr! (faza ce muvma 
pur sorti:r e s areta.) a! no! 50 1 e a la me! dj0, ko 3 e $0! 

madam p. s e ta foit! . . . ty nu pres, ty nu buskyl! . . . 
50 n em paz a vwajase kom sa! 

p. s e lo clepair ki e laborj0 . . . yn fwa ko nu s(o)ro kaze! . . . 
reste la, 50 ve prciidr le bije . . . (dona so Sapo a Srjet.) tje, gard- 
mwa m5 panama . . . (o gi$e.) trwa promjeir pur ljo? . . . 

1 aplwaje, bryskama. so n e paz uver! daz de kar d oe:r! 

p., a 1 aplwaje. a! pardo! s e la promjeir fwa ko 3(0) 
vwaja3 . . . (rav(a)na a sa fam.) nu somz an avais. 

madam p. la! ka 5(0) to dize ko nuz avjo lo ta . . . ty 
no nuz a pa lese de50ne! 

p. il vo mj0 eitr anavfiis! ... on egzamin la gar! (a arjet.) 
e bje! p(o)tit fiij, e-ty kotait? . . . nu vwala parti! . . . cikoir 
kelko minyt, e rapid kom la fle$ do gijom tel, nu nuz elasro 
ve:r lez alp! (a sa fam.) ty a pri la lorjiet? 

madam p. me wi! 

arjet, a so pe:r. sci ropro$, vwala mwe d0z ci ko ty nu 
prome so vwajai3. 

p. ma fiij, il mo fale vaidr mo f5 . . . de komersa no so 
rotir paz osi fasilma dez afeir k yn potit fiij do so pasjona . . . 
d ajoeir, 5 atcide ko ton edykasjo swa termine pur la koplete 
a foza rejone dova twa lo grci spektakl do la natyir! 

madam p. a sa! e-s ko vuz ale kotinqe kom sa? 

p. kwa? . . . 

madam p. vu fet de fraiz daz yn gair! 

p. 50 n(o) fe pa d(o) fraiz ... 5 eleiv lez ide do 1 afa. (tira 
do sa po$ & p(a)ti karne.) tje, ma fij, vwasi ce karne k(o) 5 e 
a$te pur twa. 

arjet. purkwa feir? . . . 

p. pur ekriir d de kote la depais, e do 1 otr lez epresjo, 

arjet. kelz epresjo? . . . 

p. noz epresjo d(o) vwaja^! ty ekrira, e mwa 50 diktre. 



110 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

madam p. koma! vuz ale-vu feir otoeir a preza? 

p. il na s a3i pa da m(a) feir otoeir . . . me il ma suibl 
k cen om dy moid p0 avwair de pase e le rakcejiir syr de 
karne ! 

madam p. so s(o)ra bje 30H! 

p., a pa:r. el e kom sa, $ak fwa k el n a pa pri so kafe! 

63 faktoeir, pusa tie pti $arjo $ar3e d baga:3. mosj0, vwasi vo 
bagai3. vule-vu le feir aro3istre? . . . 

p. sertenma! me avfi, 30 ve le kote . . . pars ko, kat 
se so kot . . . ce, d0, trwa, kat, sek, sis, ma fam, set, ma fiij, 
x^it, e mwa, ncef. nu som noef. 

la faktceir. alave! 

p. kura ve:r lo fo. depe$o-nu! 

la faktceir. pa par la, s e par isi! (il edik la go:$.) 

p. a! tre bje! (o fam.) atade-mwa la! . . . na nu perdo 
pa! (il sot a kura, sqiva b faktoeir.) 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 



Verbs 

(Abbreviation: a k. ce da feir k. $. = someone to do something.) 

Prepositions in ( ) are to be used before an infinitive. 



able, be, puvwair, savwair. 

acquire, akeri:r. 

afraid, be, avwair pce:r (da). 

allow, lese, permetr (da). 

announce, anase. 

appear, pareitr. 

approach, s apro$e da. 

arise, sa lave. 

arrive, arive. 

ashamed, be, avwa:r 5:t (da). 

ask, damade (da) ; — for, damade. 

assail, asajiir. 

away, go, s an ale. 

B 
bark, abwaje. 
be, e:tr. 
be to, davwair. 
beat, batr. 
become, davaniir. 
bed, go to, sa ku$e. 
begin to, sa metr a. 
believe, krwa:r. 
belong, e:tr (a), apartaniir (a). 
betray, traiir. 

better, be, valwair mjo (impers.). 
bite, mordr. 



boil, bujiir. 

born, be, ne:tr. 

break, rapr. 

bring, (a thing) aparte; (a person) 

amane. 
build, bati:r. 
buy, a$ate. 



call, apale. 

can, puvwair, savwair. 

carry, parte. 

catch sight of, s apersavwair da. 

cease, sese (da). 

choose, $wazi:r. 

clean, netwaje. 

close, ferme. 

clothe, vetiir. 

cold, be, avwair frwa (persons); 

fe:r frwa (weather); eitr frwa 

(objects) . 
come, vaniir; — back, ravaniir; 

— down, desaidr. 
command, kamade (a k. de da fe:r 

k. S-). 
commence, komase (a). 
complain, sa pleidr (da). 
conclude, kaklyir. 
conjugate, k53yge. 



Ill 



112 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



conquer, veikr. 
consent, kosati:r (a). 
cost, kute. 
cover, kuvriir. 
create, kree. 
cure, geriir. 
curse, modiir. 
cut, kupe. 



follow, sqi:vr. 

forbid, defuidr (a k. (5; do fe:r 

k. J.). 

force, obli3e (a); passive, (do). 

forget, ublije (do). 

freeze, 3ole.'] 

fun: make — of, so moke do. 

furnish, furni:r. 



dare, oze. 

descend, desaidr. 

desire, dezire. 

die, murhr. 

do, fe:r; — without, so pase do. 

doubt, dute. 

drink, bwair. 

dwell, domcerc. 



earn, ganc. 
eat, ma5o. 
employ, aplwajc. 
enter, atre (da). 
exclaim, s ekrie. 

expect, (a person) ataidr; (a 
thing) s ata:dr a. 



fail, faji:r. 

fall, tobe. 

fear, kreidr. 

feel, satiir. 

fight, so batr. 

fill, rapliir (with = do). 

finally, fini:r par (+infin.). 

find, truve. 

finish, finiir. 

flee, fqirr. 



gather, ka i ji:r. 

give, done; — back, ra:dr; — up, 

ronose (a). 
go, ale; — away, s an ale; — for, 

ale Ser^e; — out, syrti:r; — to 

bed, so ku$e. ( 
grind, mudr. 
grow, kr\v(i:tr. 
grudge: have a — against, a vu- 



H 



of, avwa:r 



habit: be in the 

kutym do. 
hang, pa:dr. 
harm, fe:r mal a. 
hate, ai:r. 
have, avwair (irr.); (=cause) fe:r; 

— to, falwair; — a good time, 

s amyze (a). 
hear, atci:dr; — by report, ata:dr 

di:r. 
help, ede (a). 

hide, ka$e (tr.); so ka^e (intr.). 
hold, toni:r; garde. 
hope, espere. 
hungry, be, avwair fe. 
hurry, so depe$e. 
hurt, fe:r mal a. 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 



113 



important, be, eporte. 

induce, aga3e. 

inform, feir savwair. 

injure, mjiir a. 

insult, esylte. 

interest, eterese; to be — ed in, 

s eterese a. 
introduce, prezate. 
invite, evite (a). 
is: here — , vwasi; there — , 

vwala; there is, il j a (exists). 



just, to have, voniir eta (+infin.). 

K 

keep, garde; — from, ape§e do. 

kill, tqe. 

know, savwa:r (by the mind); ko- 

neitr (by the senses; a person); 

— how, savwair (+infin.). 



listen, ekutc; — to, ekute. 

live, vi:vr (exist); domcere (dwell). 

lose, perdr. 

look, rogarde; — at, rogarde; — 

for, §er$e. 
love, erne, 
lunch, de30ne. 

M 

make, fe:r. 

mean, vulwair di:r. 

meet, rakotre. 

mistaken, be, so trope. 

move, muvwair, emuvwair (in 
feelings) . 

must, (necessity) falwair; (suppo- 
sition) dovwair. 

N 

name: to be — d, s apole; what is 

your — ? koma vuz aple-vu? 
necessary, be, falwair. 
need, falwair; avwair bozwe do. 
neglect, neglise (do). 



laugh, riir; — at, riir do. 

lay, poze. 

lead, koduiir. 

lean, apqije. 

learn, apmidr; — to, apraidr a. 

leave, lese (leave something behind) ; 

kite (a place or person); partiir 

do (a place or person); s an ale 

(go away). 
let, lese; ko+subj. (commands and 

wishes) . 
lie, matiir (prevaricate). 
like, erne; I should — , 30 vudre. 



offer, ofriir (do). 

open, uvriir. 

order, komade (a thing); ordone 

(a k. ce do feir k. §.). 
ought, dovwair. 
out, go, sortiir. 
owe, dovwair. 



paint, peidr. 

pardon, pardone (a k. ce do feir 
k. SO- 



114 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



pass, pase. 

pay, peje; — for, peje. 

permit, permetr (a k. de da fe:r 

k. $.)• 
persuade, deside (k. ce a fe:r k. 

pity, pleidr. 

place, plase; metr; poze. 

please, ple:r (+dative); if you — , 

s il vu pie. 
possible, be, e:tr posibl. 
praise, lwe. 
present, prezate. 
prefer, erne mjo; prefere. 
prevent, ape:$e (from = da). 
procure, so prokyre. 
punish, pyniir. 
put, metr. 



rain, plccvwair. 

raise, lave. 

read, li:r. 

receive, rasavwair. 

refuse, rafyze (da). 

regret, ragrete (da). 

reign, rejie. 

rejoice, sa re3wi:r. 

remain, reste. 

remember, sa suvaniir da; sa ra- 

pale. 
repair, repare. 
reply, repoidr (+dative). 
resolve, rezudr. 
rest, sa rapoze. 
return, ravani:r (come back); ra- 

turne (go back) ; raidr {give back). 
right, be, avwair rezo. 
run, kuriir. 



satisfied, be, (with), e:tr kota 

(do). 
save, sove. 

say, di:r; — again, radiir. 
seat, aswair. 

see, vwair; — again, ravwair. 
seek, $er$e. 
seem, sable. 
sell, va:dr. 
send, avwaje; — for, avwaje 

Ser$e. 
serve, servisr. 
sew, kudr. 
shall, future tense. 
share, parta3e. 
shave, raze, 
shine, lip:r. 
should, conditional. 
show, motre. 
shut, ferme. 
silent, be, sa tc:r. 
sing, Sate, 
sit down, s aswair. 
sleep, dormiir. 
sleepy, be, avwair someij. 
smell, sati:r. 
smoke, fyme. 
snow, ne3e. 
speak, parle. 
start, partiir. 
startled, be, tresajisr. 
stay, reste. 
stop, (intr.) s arete; (tr.) sese 

(da). 
study, etydje. 

succeed, reysiir; — in, reysiir a. 
suffer, sufriir. 
sufficient, be, syfisr. 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 



115 



suitable, be, kovaniir (a). 
surprised, be, s etone (at = eta). 
surrender, sa raidr. 



take, praidr {take hold of); — a 
walk, fe:r yn promnad; — a 
journey, fe:r ce vwaja:3; — the 
steamer, s abarke; (^require) 
falwair. 

teach, asejie (k. ce a feir k. §.); 
apraidr (a k. ce a fe:r k. §.). 

tear, desire. 

tell, di:r; kote (relate). 

think, pase; krwa:r; — of, pase a 
(when think has no dir. obj.) ; — 
of, pase da (when think has a 
dir. obj.). 

thirsty, be, avwair swaf. 

translate, tradinir. 

travel, vwaja3e. 

try, eseje (da). 



understand, kopraidr. 
urge, akura3e (a). 
use, sa serviir da. 
used to, imperfect of verb. 

W 

wait (for), ataidr. 
walk, mar$e; take a — , sa pro- 
mane; fe:r yn promnad. 
want, vulwair; dezire; falwasr. 
warm, be, avwair So. 
warn, avertiir. 
wash, lave, 
weep, plcere. 
will, vulwair. 
willing, be, vulwair bje. 
windy, be, fe:r dy va. 
wish, vulwair; dezire. 
work, travaje. 
worth, be, valwair mJ0. 



Nouns 



The plural is given only when it differs from the singular. 



affair, afeir, /. 

afternoon, apre-midi, m. or f. 

age, a: 3, m. 

America, amerik, /. 

ancestor, ajcel, aje, m. 

animal, animal, animo, m. 

apple, pom, /. 

April, avril, m. 

arm, bra, m. 

army, arme, /. 

ashes, saidr, /. pi. 



Asia, azi, /. 
August, u, m. 
aunt, tait, /. 
Austria, otriS, /. 
autumn, oton, m. 

B 

barber, kwafceir, m. 
basket, panje, m. 
bear, urs, m. 
bed, li, m. 



116 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



bench, ba, m. 
bill of fare, kart, /. 
bird, wazo, m. 
blanket, kuvertyr, /. 
boat, bato, m. 
bone, o:s, m. 
book, li:vr, m. 
bottle, butc:j, /. 
box, bwa:t, /. 
boy, garso, m. 
bread, pe, m. 
breakfast, de30ne, m. 
brother, fre:r, m. 
Brussels, brysel, /. 
butter, bcc:r, m. 



Canada, kanada, m. 

card, kart, /. 

carpet, tapi, m. 

castle, $ato, m. 

cat, §a, m. 

cause, ko:z, /. 

centime, satim, vi. 

century, sjekl, m. 

chair, $e:z, /. 

chalk, kre, /. 

chapter, §apitr, m. 

cheese, froma:3, m. 

child, afa, m. 

China, $in, /. 

Christian, kretje, m.; kretjen, /. 

church, egliz, /. 

city, vil, /. 

class, klcus, /. 

cloth, dra, m. 

clothes, abi, m. pi. 

cloud, nqa:3, m. 

coat, abi, m. 



coffee, kafe, m. 
color, kulosir, /. 
condition, kSdisjo, /. 
country, {entire) pei, m.; {rural) 
kapap, /.; {native land) patri, /. 
courage, kura:3, m. 
cousin, kuze, m. ; kuzin, /. 
cow, va$, /. 
crime, krim, m. 
cup, ta:s, /. 



daughter, fi:j, /. 

day, 3ii:r, m.; all — , tut la 311010, 

/.; — after to-morrow, apre- 

dme, m. 
death, mo:r, /. 
December, desuibr, m. 
departure, depair, m. 
dessert, deserr, m. 
dictionary, diksjone:r, m. 
dining-room, sal a mu3e, f. 
dinner, dine, m. 
doctor, medse, m. 
dog, Sje, m. 
dollar, dolarr, m. 
door, port, /. 
doubt, dut, m. 
dozen, duzcn, /. 
dress, rob, /. 



eagle, egl, m. 
ear, ore:j, /. 
egg, erf, 0, m. 
enemy, enmi, m. 
England, agbteir, /. 
Englishman, agle, in. 
Europe, cerop, /. 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 



117 



evening, swa:r, to. 

exercise, tem, to. ; — book, kaje, to. 

eye, ce:j, J0, m. 



face, figyir, /. 
family, famij, /. 
father, pe:r, to. 
fault, defo, to. 
February, fevrije, to. 
field, 5a, to. 
finger, dwa, to. 
fire, fe, to. 
fish, pwaso, to. 
flour, farin, /. 
flower, flceir, /. 
fly, muS,/. 
foot, pje, to. 
forest, fore, /. 
fork, f ur$et, /. 
fox, ronair, to. 
franc, fra, to. 
France, fra:s, /. 
Frenchman, frase, to. 
Friday, v&drodi, to. 
friend, ami, m. or f. 
fruit, frqi, to. 



garden, 3arde, m. 

general, 3eneral, 3enero, to. 

gentleman, mosJ0, mesJ0, in. 

Germany, almaji, /. 

gift, kado, to. 

girl, 3am fi:j, /. 

glass, ve:r, to. 

glove, ga, to. 

God, dJ0, w. 

gold, or, to. 



grammar, grame:r, /. 
grandfather, gra-pe:r, to. 
grandmother, gra me:r, /. 
grape, reze, to. 
grass, erb, /. 
gun, fyzi, to. 

H 

hair, $av0, to. pi. 

half, mwatje, /. 

hand, me, /. 

handkerchief, mu^wair, to. 

hat, §apo, to. 

head, te:t, /. 

heat, §alce:r, /. 

hen, pul, /. 

history, istwair, /. 

honor, onoeir, to. 

horse, $oval, $ovo, to. 

hostess, otes, /. 

hour, ce:r, /. 

house, mezo, /. 

husband, mari, m. 



ice, glas, /. 
inhabitant, abita, to. 
ink, a:kr, /. 
invitation, evitasjo, /. 
iron, fe:r, to. 
Italy, itali, /. 



January, 3avje, to. 
Japan, 3apo, to. 
jewel, bi3U, to. 
John, 3d, to. 



118 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



judge, 3y:3, m. 
July, 3YJe, m. 
June, 3ne, m. 

K 

key, kle, /. 
kilogram, kilo, m. 
king, rwa, m. 

knife: pen — , kanif, m.\ table 
kuto, m. 

L 

lady, dam, /. 
land, te:r, /. 

landlord, proprietor, m. 
language, la:g, /. 
law, lwa, /. 
lawyer, avoka, m. 
leaf, foe:j, /. 
leg, 3&:b,/. 
lesson, loso, /. 
letter, letr, /. 
library, bibliotek, /. 
life, vi, /. 
lion, ljo, m. 
liter, litr, m. 
London, lo:dr, m. 
luncheon, gute, m. 

M 
man, om, m. 
March, mars, m. 
matter, §o:z, f. ; afeir, /. 
May, me, m. 
meal, rapa, m. 
meat, vjaid, /. 
merchant, mar$a, m. 
meter, metr, m. 
Mexico, meksik, m. 
minute, minyt, /. 



misfortune, maloe:r, m. 
Monday, ldedi, m. 
money, ar3a, m. 
month, mwa, m. 
moon, lyn, /. 
morning, mate, m. 
mother, me:r, /. 
mountain, motan, /. 
mouth, bu$, /. 

N 

napkin, servjet, /. 
Napoleon, napoleo, m. 
native land, patri, /. 
nature, natyir, /. 
need, bozwe, m. 
nephew, navo, m. 
newspaper, 3urnal, 3urno, m. 
niece, njes, /. 
night, nqi, /. 
noon, midi, m. 
nose, ne, m. 
November, novaibr, m. 
number, no:br, m. 
nut, nwa, /. 

O 

object, ob3e, m. 
obstacle, opstakl, m. 
October, oktobr, m. 
office, byro, m. 
opinion, avi, m. 
orange, ora:3, /. 
ox, beef, bo, m. 



page, pa: 3, /. 
pair, pe:r, /. 

paper, papje, m.; — cutter, kuto 
a papje, m. 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 



119 



pardon, pardo, m. 
parents, para, m. pi. 
park, park, m. 
parlor, sal5, m. 
part, parti, /. 
patience, pcisjfus, /. 
peace, pe, /. 
peach, pe$, /. 
pear, pwair, /. 
peasant, peizci, m. 
pen, plym, /. 
pencil, krejo, m. 
penknife, kanif, m. 
people, 3a, m. or f. pi. 
person, person, /. 
picture, tablo, m. 
plate, asjet, /. 
pocket, po$, /. 
poet, poet, m. 
portrait, portre, m. 
potato, pom do te:r, /. 
pound, liivr, /. 
present, kado, m. 
priest, kyre, m. 
prince, preis, m. 
princess, preses, /. 
principal, presipal, m. 
prisoner, prizonje, m. 
pupil, eleiv, m. 
purse, burs, /. 



quality, kalite, /. 
quarter, ka:r, m. 
queen, rem, /. 

R 

rain, pliri, /. 
rest, ropo, m. 
restaurant, restora, m. 



ring, bag, /. 

river, floe:v, m. 

road, Some, m. 

roast beef, rosbif, m. 

Rome, rom, /. 

roof, twa, m. 

room, sal, /.; $a:br, /.; pjes, /. 

rule, regl, /. 

ruler, suvre, m. 

Russia, rysi, /. 



S 

salt, sel, m. 

Saturday, samdi, m. 

school, ekol, /. 

sea, me:r, /. 

season, sezo, /. 

Seine, sem, /. 

September, septcnbr, m. 

sheep, muto, m. 

shoe, sulje, m. 

silk, swa, /. 

silver, arsa, m. 

sister, soeir, /. 

sky, sjel, m. 

soldier, solda, m. 

something, kelko $o:z, m.) — else, 

o:tro $o:z, /. 
son, fis, m. 
song, 5aso, /. 
soup, sup, /. 
Spain, espan, /. 
spoon, kyjeir, /. 
spring, preta, m. 
star, etwal, /. 

steamboat, bato a vapoeir, m. 
store, magaze, m. 
storm, ora:3, m. 



120 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



story, istwair, /. 
street, ry, /. 
sugar, sykr, m. 
summer, ete, m. 
sun, soleij, m. 
Sunday, dima:$, m. 
supper, supe, m. 



vegetable, tegym, m. 
velvet, volur, m. 
verb, verb, m. 
victory, viktwair, /. 
virtue, verty, /. 
voice, vwa, /. 
volume, to:m, m. 



table, tabl, /. 

tablecloth, nap, /. 

tailor, tajoesr, m. 

tea, te, m. 

teacher, {elementary school) me:tr, 

m.) {higher school) profesoeir, 

m. 
theater, teaitr, m. 
theme, tcm, m. 
Thursday, 30tli, m. 
ticket, bije, m. 
time, ta, m. {in general)) fwa, /. 

{when can be numbered) . 
tooth, da, /. 
tree, arbr, m. 
trunk, mal, /. 
truth, verite, /. 
Tuesday, mardi, m. 



W 

waiter, garso, m. 

war, ge:r, /. 

watch, moitr, /. 

water, o, /. 

weather, ta, m. 

Wednesday, mcrkrodi, m. 

week, somen, /. ; ui 3ii:r, m. pi. 

wife, fam, /. 

wind, va, m. 

window, fone:tr, /. 

wine, ve, m. 

wineglass, ve:r a ve, m. 

winter, ive:r, m. 

wisdom, sa3es, /. 

wolf, hi, m. 

woman, fam, /. 

wood, bwa, m. 

word, mo, m. 

work, travaij, m. 

world, moid, m. 



umbrella, paraplqi, m. 

uncle, oikl, m. 

United States, etaz-yni, m. pi. 



year, {as a date) a; {as a whole) 
ane, /. 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 



121 



Adjectives 

In this vocabulary the masculine is put before the feminine. 



active, aktif, aktiv. 
all, tu, tut (sing, and pi.). 
American, amerike, ameriken. 
ancient, asje, asjen. 



B 



bad, move, move:z. 
beautiful, bo, bel. 
beloved, bjen-eme. 
best, b mejoeir. 
big, gro, gro:s. 
black, nwair. 
blue, bio. 
brief, bref, breiv. 



capable, kapabl. 
charming, $armci, $arma:t. 
clear, net. 
clever, abil. 
cold, frwa, frwad. 
comfortable, komod. 
content, kota, kotait. 
crazy, fu, fol. 
cruel, krqel. 



each, $ak. 
easy, fasil. 
English, agle, agleiz. 
every, tu le, tut le. 
evident, evida, evida: t. 
excellent, eksela, ekselait. 



faithful, fidel. 
false, fo, fo:s. 
favorite, favori, favorit, 
fine, bo, bel. 
first, pramje, promjeir. 
flattering, flato, flatoz. 
foreign, etra:3e, etra3e:r. 
former, asje, asjen. 
French, frase, fraseiz. 
frank, fra, Tra:§. 
fresh, fre, fre:$. 
full, pie, plen. 



gay, ge. 

generous, 3enero, 3enero:z. 

glad, kota, kotait. 

good, bo, bon. 

great, gra, graid. 

Greek, grek. 

green, ve:r, vert. 



dead, mor, mort. 

dear, §e:r. 

different, difera, difercut. 

difficult, difisil. 

dry, sek, se§. 



H 
half, domi. 
happy, cero, ceroiz. 
high, o, o:t. 
hot, $o, $o:d. 



122 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



I 

instructive, estryktif, estryktiv. 
intelligent, eteli3ci, eteli3&:t. 
interesting, eteresS, eteresait. 



pretty, 30b. 
public, pyblik. 



quick, vit. 



R 



large, gra, gra:d; gro, gro: 
last, dernje, dernje:r. 
lazy, pareso, paresoiz. 
least, la mwe:dr. 
little, poti, potit. 
lively, vif, vi:v. 
long, 15, lo:g. 
lovable, emabl. 
low, bet, bars. 



mortal, mortel. 



M 



N 



necessary, nesese:r. 

new, nuvo, nuvel. 

next, pro$e, proven. 

no, nyl. 

numerous, nobra, nobraiz. 



O 

odious, odjo, odjoiz. 
old, vjo, vjej. 
other, o:tr. 



ready, pre, pre:t. 
rich, ri§. 
ripe, my:r. 
round, ro, ro:d. 



satisfied, kota, kotart (with = do). 

second, sogo, sogord; dozjem. 

serious, serJ0, serJ0:z. 

short, kusr, kurt. 

similar, pareij. 

small, poti, potit. 

soft, mu, mol. 

stormy, ora30, ora30:z. 

strong, fo:r, fort. 

studious, stydjo, stydj0:z. 

stupid, so, sot. 

such, tel. 

sure, sy:r. 

sweet, du, dus. 

Swiss, sips. 



tall, gra, gra:d; o, o:t. 
thick, epe, epes. 
tired, fatige. 
true, vre. 



pleased, kota, kota:t. 
poor, poivr. 
possible, posibl. 



U 



ugly, vile, vilen. 
useful, ytil. 



ENGLISH-FRENCH VOCABULARY 123 

W wooden, do bwa. 

„ TOW , c r j worse, pi:r. 
warm, \|0, >o:d. ' ^ 

well-behaved, 3&ti:j. Y 

white, bla, bla:§. yellow, 50:11. 

witty, spiritqel. young, 502n. 



124 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 













ffi 
















- 






93 


— 

CO 




- 


S 


100 

ft 


CD 

s- 
> . 


u 


CO 


rt 


- 


+3 







C 

a 


Jai 


a 


f. 

aa 


Si 


> 


-^ 


ft 


ft 


ft 


ft 


ft 


ft 


tO 


tn 


tO 


tO 


to 


to 


to 


to 



• ft"tf S 



0) 



o 



c^ 



£ J2.H* £ 



ftftftftftftftftftOftftftC 

M5 to ic to to to to to to to to to to to 






05 



o 

o 

CO 



W & 



CO 



H 



03 Si > C ^ 

-ftft.ftftftftft 



2"j! ! J 



3 N 



CO •-;> 

N ^ X P- 

— > ft Cu 



ft ft ft ft C ft o 



to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to 



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APPENDIX 
Introduction to the Written Language 

1. Orthography. 1. The French alphabet has the same 
letters as the English. The names of the letters will be 
given after the sounds have been explained. 

2. Besides the letters of the alphabet the following signs 
are used: 

(a) The acute accent "*, used only on e. 
(6) The grave accent \ 

(c) The circumflex accent A . None of the above indicate 
stress. Their value, if any, appears in the table below (§5). 

(d) The dieresis " shows that the vowel bearing it is pro- 
nounced separately from the preceding vowel. 

Ex. : naif, ou'i. 

(e) The cedilla 3 used under c indicates the s-sound be- 
fore a, o, u. 

Ex. : gargon, re? u. 

3. In French, as in English, the letters frequently do not 
indicate the right pronunciation; one sound may be spelled 
in a variety of ways, and one letter may have two or more 
pronunciations, It is accordingly better to learn first the 
sounds and then the ways of writing them. To represent 
the sounds with scientific accuracy this grammar uses the 
well-known alphabet of the Association Phonetique Inter- 
nationale, in which each symbol always has the same value. 
The symbols will be given in brackets to prevent confusion 
with the standard orthography. 

125 



126 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

4. French sounds are much more clearly articulated than 
English sounds. Tongue and lip movements are more ex- 
treme. Vowels in unstressed syllables are not slurred as in 
English, but are pronounced pure. 

To acquire the needed precision and clearness beginners 
should practise words syllable by syllable, giving to each 
equal force. 

2. Syllabication. 1. A single consonant sound between 
vowels belongs to the following syllable. This includes such 
groups as ch, ph, th, gn, representing a single sound. 
Ex. : rai-son, le-con, voi-la, a-mi-tie, a-che-ter, di-gne. 

2. Groups that have r or 1 for a final member (br, bl, cr, 

cl, etc., with the exception of rr and 11) come under the 

same rule. 

Ex.: ai-ma-ble, li-vre, e-cri-re. 

3. Other combinations of consonants are divided. 

Ex. : ad-mi-rer, fac-teur, sot-te. 

4. H is disregarded. 

Ex. : bo-nheur. 

5. X in spelling goes with the preceding syllable; in pro- 
nunciation it is divided. 

Ex.: ex-em-ple. 

Note. These rules are of great importance in their bearing upon 
the nasal vowels (§ 3) and e (§5). 

Nasal Vowels 

3. The sounds [a], [e], [o], [ce] are greatly modified by 
nasalization. This effect is produced by expelling the 
breath through the nose as well as through the mouth. 
These sounds must not be confused with the consonants m 



APPENDIX 



127 



and n (nor the English ng); that is, the lips must not be 
closed as in m, and the tongue must not rise to the palate 
as in n (or ng). The sign ~ over the symbols indicates 



nasalization. 

Symbol 



Spellings 



[a] = nasalized [a] an, am, en, em 



[e] = nasalized [e] 



aim, am, ein, en, 
im, in 



[5] = nasalized [o] om, on 

[oe] = nasalized [oe] eun, um, un 



Examples 

f tant [tu], lampe [lciip], 
| enfant [afa], 
i empire [apiir] 

( faim [fe], main [me], 

fin [fe], 
I impossible [eposibl] 

tomber [tobe], on [5] 

f humble [cebl], un [oe], 
1 lundi [lcedi] 



A vowel is nasalized only when followed by m or n in the same 
syllable. If the m or n belong to a following syllable the vowel is not 
nasalized, and m and n have the value of nasal consonants. 



Semivowels 

4. When [i], [u], and [y] immediately precede a more 
strongly stressed vowel, they are pronounced with the 
tongue nearer the palate, thus acquiring the value of con- 
sonants. The consonantal [i] occurs also in combination 
with 1 as noted below. 

Examples 

viens [vje], 
pied [pje], 
yeux [j0], 

travailler [travaje], 
travail [travaij], 
L fiUe[nij] 



Symbol 



Spellings Like English 



[j] = consonantal [i] 



i, y, ill, 
il, ll, 1 l 1 



in yes 



1 After i. 



128 



PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 



Symbol 



Spellings 
1 



Like English 



[w] = consonantal [u] o/ ou 
[q] = consonantal [y] u 



none 



Practise Words 



Examples 

moi [mwa], 
oui [wi] 

flui[lqi], 
1 huit [qit] 



[j] payer [peje], tien [tje], hier [je:r], yeux [jo]. 

[w] oui [wi], poids [pwa], toi [twa], roi [rwu], ouest [west]. 

[q] huit [qit], buis [bqi], fuir [fqi:r]. 



5. Reference 
Spellings 



Table of Commonest Values of Vowel 



Standard 
Spelling 



ay 
e 



= [a] and [a]. The pronunciation of a is very inconsistent. In 
Parisian French a is usually pronounced [a] before silent s 
and before the sounds s and z, except in verb-endings. In 
most other cases a = [a]. Ex.: cas [ka], pas [pa], classe 
[klas], nation [na:sj5], base [baz]; aller [ale], quatre [katr], 
la [la]. 

= [a] regularly and is generally long in stressed syllables; but 
in the verb-endings -ames, -ates, -at=[a]. 

= [e], but ai final in verb-endings = [e]. Ex.: aimer [erne], fait 
[fe], finirais [finire], finirai [finire]. 

= [o] most frequently; sometimes [o]; usually [r>] before r. Ex.: 
aucun [okce], faut [fo], aujourd'hui [o3urdqi], aurai [ore]. 

= [ej] when followed by a vowel sound. Ex.: payer [peje]. 

= [9] when closing a syllable. Except in monosyllables, this [o] 
is often silent when it is not needed to facilitate the pro- 
nunciation of consonant-groups. When final it is regularly 
dropped in words of more than one syllable. Ex. : recevoir 
[rosovwair], tenir [toniir], medecin [medse], devenir [dav- 
ni:r], passe [pas], te [to]. When e is added to a word end- 
ing in a silent consonant, it causes the latter to be clearly 
pronounced. Ex.: grand [gra], grande [grfisd], petit [poti], 
petite [potit]. 

1 Before i. 



APPENDIX 129 

Standard 
Spelling 

e =[e] when followed by a pronounced consonant in the same 

syllable. Ex.: sec [sck], avec [avek], mettre [metr], belle 
[bel]. 
= [e] in the verb-endings -er, -ez, and in a number of words, of 
which some important ones are assez [ase], pied [pje], nez 
[ne], et [e]. 

e = [e]. Ex. : ete [ete], the [te]. 

e =[e]. Ex.: tres [trej. 

e =[e] generally long in stressed syllables. Ex.: etre [e:tr], pret 

[pre]. 

eau = [o]. Ex.: eau [o], beau [bo]. 

ei =[e]. Ex. : reine [rem]. 

eu (eu) = [ce] when not closing a syllable or when r or a ?/-sound [j] be- 
gins the next syllable. Ex. : seul [seel], veule [voel], Europe 
[oerop], leur [lce:r], feuille [fceij]. 
= [0] usually when not followed by a pronounced consonant in 
the same syllable. Ex.: veux [vo], ceux [so], feu [fo]. In 
the verb avoir = [y]. Ex.: eus [y], eiimes [ym], eusse [ys]. 

e y =[ej] when followed by a vowel sound. Ex.: grasseyer [gra- 

ss je]. 

i = [i]; before a more strongly stressed vowel = [j]. Ex.: si [si], 

pied [pje], rien [rje]. 

i =[i] generally long in stressed syllables. Ex.: ile [ill]. 

o =[0] when final or followed only by silent consonants; also be- 

fore [z] and sometimes before [s]. Otherwise generally = [o]. 
Ex.: mot [mo], nos [no], rose [ro:z], fosse [fos], Ecosse 
[ekos], ecole [ekol], fort [foir], locomotive [bkomotiv]. 

6 =[0] generally long in stressed syllables. Ex.: notre [no:tr], 

hotel [otel]. 

ceu =[ce] and [0]: same rules as for eu above. Ex.: bceuf [beef], 
voeux [vo]. 

oioroi = [wa] generally; in some words = [wa]. Ex.: moi [mwa], fois 
[fwa], boite [bwa:t]; mois [mwa], roi [rwa], trois [trwa]. 

ou =[u]. Ex.: fou [fu], tout [tu]. Immediately before another 

vowel = [w]. Ex.: oui [wi], ouest [west]. 

oy =[waj] before a vowel. Ex.: voyant [vwajfi], envoyer [avwaje]. 

u = [}']• Ex.: tu [ty], rue [ry], su [sy]. Not preceded by g or q 

u+vowel = [uJ. Ex.: lui [hp], huit [nit]. 

uy =^ij] before a vowel. Ex.: appuyer [apujje]. 



130 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

6. Reference Table of the Values of Consonant Spellings 

Standard 

Spelling 

c before a, o, u = [k]; before e, i, y = [s]. Ex.: car [kar], ce [sa]. 

c = [s]. Ex.: lecon [loso], commenfa [komfisa]. 

cc before a, o, u = [k]; before e, i, y = [ks]. Ex.: accorder [akorde], acci- 
dent [aksidu]. 

ch usually = [§]. But in chceur, and before r or 1, ch = [k]. Ex.: chien 
gjel, lache [la:$], choeur [koeir]. 

g before a, o, u = [g]; before e, i. y = [3L Ex.: gant [gu], gens [3a]. 

ge before a, o, 11 = [3]. Ex.: mangeons [mu35]. 

gn usually = [n]; in a few words = [gn]. Ex.: vigne [vin], stagnant 
[stagna]. 

gu = [g]. Ex.: guerre [geir], guide [gid], fatigua [fatiga]. 

h is silent. A distinction, however, is made between "h mute" and 
' h aspirate" according as the letter does or does not cause elision. 
Ex. : homme [om], heros [cro], l'homme [1 am], le heros [lo ero], 

-il final usually = [il] ; but after a vowel =[jj. Ex.: avril [avril], exil 
[egzil], fil [fil], travail [travaij], oeil [oe:j], pareil [pare:j], vieil [vje:j]. 

-ill- medial = [il] in a few words, of which the commonest are mille 
[mil], ville [vil], tranquille [trakil], and their derivatives. Otherwise 
it=[ij] if not preceded by another vowel; [j] if preceded by a vowel. 
Ex.: million [miljo], village [vilai3], tranquillite [trakilite], fille [fi:j], 
billet [bije], travailler [travaje], conseiller [koseje], feuille [fce:j]. 

j always = [5]. Distinguish the letter j from the symbol [j]. Ex.: ja- 
mais [same], gentille [3&ti:j]. 

s between vowels = [z]; otherwise =[s]. Ex.: maison [mczo], rose [ro:z], 
seize [se:z]. 

ss = [s]. Ex.: laisser [lese], fasse [fas]. 

-ti- medial before a vowel =[sj] or [si] in many words, especially in the 
endings -tial, -tie, -tiel, -tieux, -tion. Otherwise is regular; that is 
= [tj] or [ti]. Ex.: initial [inisjal], inertie [inersi:], confidentiel [kofi- 
dasjel], ambitieux [abisjo], nation [na:sj5], amitie [amitje], partie 
[parti:], septieme [setjem], Chretien [kretje]. 

x before a consonant = [ks] ; before a vowel generally = [gz] ; when final, 
if not mute = [s]. Ex.: experience [eksperjeus], exemple [egzcupl], dix 
[disl. 



APPENDIX 131 

7. Silent Consonants. Consonants in French are often 
silent, especially when final. 

Ex.: bord [bo:r], lit [li], met [me], sculpture [skyltyir]. 

1. m and n when closing a syllable nasalize the vowel 
before them, but are then not pronounced as consonants. 

2. Final d, g, p, s, t, x, and z are usually silent. Final c, 
f, 1, q, r are usually pronounced; but there are many excep- 
tions. The phonetic transcription in the vocabulary will 
cover all cases that occur in this grammar. 

8. Linking of Final Consonants (Liaison). Many final 
consonants usually silent are pronounced when the follow- 
ing word begins with a vowel or mute h (see § 6) : the final 
consonant then becomes the initial sound of the following 
word. This linking occurs only when the two words are 
closely connected. 

Ex.: les livres [le liivr], les amis [le zami], les hommes [le zom], il 
est ici [il e tisi]. 

1. In linking, final c = [k], d = [t], g = [k], s and x = [z]. 

Ex.: grand enfant [gra tufa], nous avons [nu zavo], je veux aller [50 
V0 zale], rang eleve [ra kelve], pore-epic [por kepik]. 

2. The n of a nasal is carried over, but m never. 

Ex.: un homme [oe nom], mon ami [mo nami]. 

3. Initial h mute (see § 6) does not prevent the linking of 
a preceding consonant. Initial h aspirate does. 

Ex.: un homme [oe nom], un heros [oe ero]. 

4. The t of et [e] is never linked. 

9. Elision, e is dropped and is replaced by apostrophe 
in the monosyllables le, de, je, me, te, se, ne, que (and some 
of its compounds) before a vowel or mute h (§ 6). 



132 PHONETIC FRENCH GRAMMAR 

So also a in la. i is elided in si before il and ils. 

Ex.: l'homme (=le homme), s'ils s'amusent ( = si ils se amusent), 
l'encre ( = la encre). 

10. Stress. In English, strong stress compensates for in- 
distinct articulation. In French the reverse is true. In 
English, unstressed syllables are so slurred that the vowels 
in them lose their quality. In French, where extremes of 
stress are much smaller, the unstressed vowels lose none of 
their purity, with the exception of [a]. 

English relies mainly on stress for emphasis. French, in 
order to secure emphasis, often has to use special forms. 

11. Capitals. French uses capitals less than English. 
Small letters are employed in proper names used as adjec- 
tives; in the pronoun je (meaning 7); in names of the days 
and months. 

Ex.: c'est un Francais, he is a Frenchman; un livre francais, a 
French book; mardi, le 12 aout, Tuesday, the 12th of August; quand je 
l'avais fait, when I had done it. 

12. The Alphabet. The commonest names of the letters 
in French are a [a], be [be], ce [se], de [de], e [e], efife [ef], 
ge [3e], ache [a$], i [i], ji [si], ka [ka], elle [el], emme [em], 
enne [en], o [o], pe [pe], ku [ky], erre [er], esse [es], te [te], 
u [y], ve [ve], double ve [dubl ve], iks [iks], i grec [i grek], 
zede [zed]. 

In spelling aloud the consonants are now commonly pronounced [ba], 
[8&], [da], [fa], etc. 

Definitions 

13. Open Syllable. A syllable is open when it ends in a 

vowel sound. 

Ex.: ete = e-te = e-te. 

rouler = rou-ler = ru-le. 
chemin = che-min = $a-me. 



APPENDIX 133 

Closed Syllable. A syllable is closed when it ends in a 
consonant sound. 

Ex. : partir = par-tir = par-ti:r. 
espoir = es-poir = es-pwa:r. 
rester = res-ter = res-te. 

Mute e. A mute e is an e that ends a syllable, or one that 
we know to be silent. 

Ex.: chemin==$9-me. 
jeter = 39-te. 

donne = don. 
donnent-don. 



: '¥-f-«. 



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